


Here Comes The One

by SameAsItEverWas



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Fingerfucking, Oral Sex, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-07-12 06:08:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 56
Words: 83,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7088323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SameAsItEverWas/pseuds/SameAsItEverWas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in a butch/femme world with no men. Characters have different backgrounds to real life somewhat. Some entirely fictional chapters and some chapters based on events that actually happened. Mostly Krashlyn but some Huffbach as they are a similar couple to Ali and Ashlyn and the perfect best friends/couple to compliment the story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Back To Training

‘Think fast!’ Abby said to her best friend Ashlyn coming into the changing rooms after training. She had thrown a football at her which Ashlyn had managed to catch perfectly ‘brilliant reactions you have Ash’

 

‘Tell me something I don’t know’ Ashlyn said cockily ‘good to be back isn’t it?’

 

‘Yeah the break was good but I’m glad to be back in training again. The temptation to party has been really bad for us this time hasn’t it?’

 

‘Yeah but fuck who cares, the pussy isn’t gonna fuck itself, it isn’t our fault that we are so popular with the femmes’ Ashlyn replied.

 

‘Surprised my fingers haven’t dropped off’ Abby joked

 

‘Surprised my whole hand hasn’t dropped off, I got tons more than you’ Ashlyn came back with

 

‘Did you bollox’ Abby said back to her

 

‘It’s really lucky we’re back here, gotta leave some girls for the rest of the world’

 

‘Well let’s switch our focus and get out there, you ready?’ Abby asked

 

‘Yep, let’s go’

 

It was lovely to see the other girls again. Abby and Ashlyn were best friends but they did get together with other team mates over the break, however they hadn’t been able to see everyone as some of the girls lived a long way off.

 

‘Right everyone welcome back’ their coach said ‘we’ve got a couple of new players this season who have come through to the seniors from the juniors – please be welcoming to Sarah and Ali’

 

Abby and Ashlyn hadn’t really been paying much attention. Abby glanced up and suddenly nudged Ashlyn ‘oh fuck look’

 

Ashlyn turned her head to look up ‘oh my god look at them, what a pair of hotties’

 

Ali and Sarah were stood shyly giggling slightly together, they noticed Abby and Ashlyn looking at them and liked having the two hot butches check them out.

 

‘Oi you lot’ Abby said to the other team mates out of earshot of their coach and Ali and Sarah ‘we’ve got first dibs on the two newbies’

 

There was lots of eye rolling and smirking at this ‘like you two will stand a chance with them, they’re well out of your league’ Megan replied

 

‘No such thing as out of our league’ Ashlyn said cockily again back to Megan ‘you’ll see’

 

‘You’re only after them because they are younger than you and you think they’re virgins’ Syd said rolling her eyes

 

‘Yeah that’s their favourite type of girl as they’ve got no experience to compare them to so they won’t know how crap they are in bed’ Megan chimed in

 

‘I don’t remember you complaining’ Abby said back to her grinning ‘oh Abby harder more harder!!’ Abby said imitating Megan.

 

‘Fuck off’ Megan said with a grin, she usually liked to forget that she and Abby had once had a brief thing, before realising that they were better off as friends. They both liked teasing each other over it at times.

 

Ali and Sarah had been taken away for an induction on their own that day so it wasn’t until later that afternoon that Abby and Ashlyn got to see them again. The other girls were all changed and ready to leave. Abby and Ashlyn had been kept behind by their coach who had told them that she wanted to see them taking leadership roles that year after so many of the team greats had retired at the end of the last season.

 

The two girls were feeling good, their careers were really taking off and now they felt interested to get to know the two new girls better. They came out of the meeting and saw Sarah and Ali were still out on the field just gently tapping a ball back and forward between them.

 

‘They’ve got nice control haven’t they, both of them are talented’ Abby said

 

‘Nice legs as well’ Ashlyn replied and Abby laughed

 

‘Come on let’s slowly go and get changed, and with a bit of luck they’ll come in shortly and we can accidentally bump into them’ Abby said

 

The plan worked very well, Sarah and Ali soon walked into the changing rooms. They immediately recognised Ashlyn and Abby as the two butches that had been checking them out earlier.

 

They grinned to each other and went over to their own lockers trying not to make eye contact with either Abby or Ashlyn, though secretly hoping they would come over and talk to them.

 

‘Wow they really are two very sexy girls’ Abby whispered to Ashlyn ‘do you prefer one over the other’?

 

‘They’re both gorgeous, but I kind of do yeah’ Ashlyn confirmed

 

‘Which one’ Abby asked hoping that they weren’t both going to fancy the same one and have it turn into a competition. As much as Abby and Ashlyn saw themselves as alpha butches neither of them wanted to fancy the same girl. Firstly it would result in one of them being disappointed, and also it would really hurt the girl that wasn’t fancied by either of them.

 

‘The taller one’ Ashlyn said ‘I kinda fancy them both though’

 

Abby grinned, she was relieved ‘I prefer the smaller one, but like you I fancy the other one a bit as well. The smaller one is just the perfect combination between cute and sexy’

 

‘Yeah she is’ Ashlyn said grinning ‘the taller one is total hotness, do you reckon she’s a complete slag and I’ll be drowning in pussy this evening?’

 

‘Haha knowing your luck with the girls yes’ Abby replied ‘come on lets go over’

 

Abby and Ashlyn approached Sarah and Ali and introduced themselves. They spent the next half an hour chatting to them and getting to know them, until they both needed to leave to get home. Abby and Ashlyn appreciated that both girls were 5 years younger than them and lived with their moms who were expecting them home for dinner.

 

Ashlyn turned to Abby after the two new girls had left.

 

‘Wow’ she said

 

‘Yeah wow’ Abby replied

 

‘They’re so sweet, not like the kind of girls we usually go for’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Yeah, yet I’m absolutely reeled in. Instead of thinking it was boring that my flirting wasn’t working particularly I found it cute’ Abby replied

 

‘Me too, Ali isn’t slutty at all. Earlier I hoped she would be but now I just think it’s so cute. She’s so intelligent and seems like a lovely girl. For the first time ever I’m not finding myself thinking about sex’

 

‘Me neither’ Abby replied ‘I just found myself feeling like I wanted to protect her from someone like me’

 

‘What is happening to us’ Ashlyn questioned ‘are we starting to become ready for real relationships?!’

 

‘Surely not’ Abby replied though she sounded very doubtful.


	2. A Truly "Great" Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the next part....let's hope someone doesn't mess it all up.

The next day Ali and Sarah joined the rest of the team for full time training. The coach paired everyone up. ‘Now we have an even number of people this year so Ashlyn you will have to be paired up with a defender’

Ashlyn nodded she knew that this was her year to step up and be agreeable, plus she knew now there was a tiny chance that she might be paired with Ali.

All four girls were secretly hoping that they would be paired up together.

The coach continued talking ‘I want to give everyone the best chances of getting better, so I am going to put our new girls with some of the more experienced players. This may sound unfair but if you can cope with the best here then you’re prepared for the best that international football will throw at you.’

She started reading out names and eventually came to Abby’s name ‘Wambach with Huffman’

Both Abby and Sarah were secretly very pleased, they exchanged a smile, Sarah’s smile was very sweet and Abby loved it.

‘Harris you go with Kreiger, I think she’ll learn quite a bit off of you even if you do play very different positions’ 

Ali and Ashlyn exchanged a flirtier smile than the one between Abby and Sarah. All four were happy to be paired together. They wouldn’t start working in pairs for another week yet but it was something to look forward to.

The week passed quickly with the four of them having lunch together every day. Again Ashlyn and Abby were surprised to find that having sex with Sarah and Ali was the furthest thing from their minds they just wanted to be around them, get to know them and really impress and take care of them. It was working, Ali and Sarah loved the attention.

Fortunately when Sarah and Ali had had the same discussion about which of the girls they preferred they had also agreed that Sarah liked Abby more while Ali like Ashlyn more.

‘She’s much bigger than me but I just feel so safe with her, I feel like she’ll take care of me and after my past I really need someone like that’ Sarah explained to Ali

‘I agree’ Ali told her ‘she’s so sweet, she really seems to like you and to want to take care of you. We’ve been lucky here, Ashlyn’s so sexy, she knows fashion as well as I do but in a different way – we have so much in common yet are different’.

The following Monday the girls were put into their pairs for training. They all had a really enjoyable time. Ashlyn and Abby realised that training was a great excuse to touch Ali and Sarah without having to find a reason for doing so. They all knew they were there to take the training seriously but it was nice to have some fun.

On Wednesday the coach decided to hold the first training match. Everyone was on the opposite side to the person they were paired with. Sarah was to mark Abby, as the coach thought it would be good for her to take on someone Abby’s size. Abby may not be the fastest in the world but for a striker she was certainly one of the biggest and it would be good practice for Sarah.

Abby was clearly very interested in Sarah, and Sarah enjoyed having Abby being very attentive to her. She wasn’t at all concerned about having to mark Abby. She would rather mark Abby than Megan or any of the other girls as she knew Abby would take it easy on her.

The ball took a while to come Sarah and Abby’s way. Sarah finally got control of the ball and went towards the direction of her team’s goalkeeper to get the ball back into her own half. She saw Abby coming straight at her but she kept running knowing that Abby would move out of the way…only she didn’t.

Sarah ran at Abby at full speed and Abby also ran at Sarah at full speed. Abby was an intimidating figure and no one took her on. She expected the smaller girl to stop at any moment. She didn’t though.

They slammed into each other and Abby sent Sarah crashing hard to the floor, Abby then took the ball while Sarah lay on the ground rolling around in pain, and scored.

When Abby turned back the coach and Ali were helping a clearly hurt Sarah off the field. She was winded and holding her groin which had smashed hard into Abby’s thigh.

Sarah was taken off to the treatment room. Ali came out 10 minutes later.

‘How is she?’ Abby asked

‘She’s in a lot of pain’ Ali replied she tried not to sound pissed off but she couldn’t help it, Sarah was her best friend ‘she’s hurt her groin and she won’t let anyone check it. Her mom’s coming to take her home’

‘Oh’ Abby said looking at the ground feeling disappointed in herself. ‘When will her mom come?’ She asked

‘Not for about 20 minutes’ Ali told her

I’ll go in and see her quickly’ Abby said and she knocked and went into the training room ‘is she ok?’ she asked the trainer in there

‘Hard to say, she won’t let anyone check her’

‘Will you give us a few minutes alone?’ Abby asked her

‘Yes ok, I’ll come back in when you leave or her mom gets here’

Abby nodded and when the door was closed she leaned over Sarah ‘will you trust me enough to look?’ she asked she wasn’t sure how she really felt about that. She wanted to make sure Sarah was ok but another part of her really couldn’t help feeling that she would find it sexual.

Sarah refused though, she carried on crying and turned away when Abby tried to comfort her and simply refused to speak to her. After a few minutes of trying Abby left the room. She felt it was better that she wasn’t there when Sarah’s mom arrived, as she would have no chance with Sarah if it was pointed out that Abby was the person that had hurt her.

Training was finishing up now and Abby thought she would still go for the drink that the four of them had planned to have after training. Sarah would be missing of course so it would be with just Ashlyn and Ali.

Ali refused though ‘I’m just gonna go and wait with Sarah until her mom arrives’ Ali told them not looking at either of them ‘and then I’ll go home’ 

She left the room and Ashlyn went after her ‘Ali!’ she called going after her 

‘Yeah’ Ali said reluctantly turning 

‘Are you upset with me?’ Ashlyn asked

‘No’ Ali said ‘I’m not upset with anyone just upset that Sarah was hurt’

Ashlyn nodded trying to understand ‘where’s your mom?’ She asked 

‘If you remember we were meant to be going out after training so she isn’t picking me up today. I’m walking’ Ali replied

‘Oh’ Ashlyn said ‘well do you want to go out with just me this evening on our own? She asked hopefully

‘No thanks’ Ali said ‘I just want to go home’

Unfortunately Ashlyn didn’t have her jeep with her, they had come in Abby’s car as they lived together it was silly to come in two cars.

‘Well can I walk you home and carry your bag?’ Ashlyn asked

‘No it’s fine thanks, it isn’t heavy, I’ll see you tomorrow’ Ali said and walked off. Ashlyn opened her mouth to call after her again but closed it and realised that Ali really didn’t want her to follow.

She went back in to Abby ‘you’re a dickhead’ she told her ‘I think you’ve wrecked everything for both of us’.


	3. Beaten Up By A Femme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will things be ok?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked me what the ages are of the characters. I haven't really given it much consideration. I guess I place Ali and Sarah at 19-20 and Abby and Ashlyn at 24-25. For the sake of the story please appreciate that Sarah and Ali are deliberately very innocent - it is what is attracting Abby and Ashlyn to them as they are so different to any other girls they've ever been with. My character introduction has perhaps been very poor, it is simply that Ali and Sarah are the innocent femmes that are taming the experienced butches who never thought any femmes would have this kind of control over them - if this scenario works for you then good, if it doesn't well there's plenty of other great stories on here ;)

‘It had nothing to do with you and Ali’ Abby argued, she was annoyed with herself and wanted to take it out on someone and Ashlyn was unfortunately going to be that person if she didn’t shut up soon.

‘Sarah is Ali’s best friend of 5 years, since they started juniors together, you’re my best friend so it does unfortunately affect all of us’ Ashlyn told her

Abby just shrugged ‘come on lets go’ she said ‘I’m sick of talking about it and I’m sick of being here’

Abby sent a text to Sarah when she got home apologising and asking if she could come over. She didn’t get a reply which really worried her.

Two days later Sarah was back at training. She was walking a bit strangely but felt that she would be up to some training.

Everyone left the changing rooms and it was just the four of them left. Sarah and Ali were on the opposite side to Abby and Ashlyn.

Abby went over to see Sarah ‘hey’ she said

‘Hey’ Sarah said quite coldly

‘I’m sorry that you got hurt earlier in the week, I didn’t mean to hu…’ Abby began

‘Yes you did!’ Sarah suddenly shouted looking Abby right in the eye ‘you came straight at me so don’t try backtracking now that it was some accident – it wasn’t. Now get out my way’ Sarah said and she actually gave Abby a big shove and left the room.

Abby turned to Ashlyn ‘what the hell just happened?’ Abby asked her and Ashlyn burst out laughing

‘I think you just got beaten up by a femme Abby’ Ashlyn said still laughing and Ali started to laugh too. Abby started laughing as well

‘Geez I never thought she’d stand up to me like that. Wow that is one special girl’ Abby said clearly impressed ‘even you barely stand up to me Ashlyn’.

At lunchtime Abby finally got Sarah alone again to speak to her.

‘Listen to me please’ Abby asked of Sarah

‘Ok’ she said coldly

‘I really am sorry that you got hurt, but I’m not sorry for what I did. I am a totally different person on the pitch to who I am off of the pitch. Off the pitch I’d never hurt you and I’ll want to look after you. But once we’re on the pitch I don’t care who someone is, I want my team to win. Do you understand that? Me and Ashlyn have both hurt each other quite badly on the pitch as well but we’re still best friends, it’s just the nature of the beast’ Abby explained. She sighed after this long speech.

Sarah nodded it did make sense, she realised it was a bit silly expecting Abby to go easy on her. Abby sensed that the tension had eased ‘it’s the first time I’ve been beaten up by a femme by the way, I was very impressed’ Abby said grinning.

Sarah grinned back ‘ok I get it, I should really have realised that you would be different on and off the pitch’ 

‘So are you ok now? It looked like you were really badly hurt’ Abby asked

‘It did hurt but it isn’t so bad now, you know how a groin injury is – it really really hurts at the time but then it eases. Perhaps next time you want to hurt me you’ll aim for somewhere slightly less embarrassing’ Sarah said with a small smirk

‘I’ll do my best' Abby confirmed also grinning, and she knew everything was going to be ok again ‘So I want to make up to you for what happened, and I was wondering if I could take you for a nice meal at one of my favourite restaurants The Gallery tonight?’ Abby asked Sarah

Sarah looked keen and then her face clouded a bit ‘erm do you mind if I think about it?’ She asked

‘No that’s fine’ Abby said but she was very disappointed inside. It did seem that perhaps she had ruined things after all.

Sarah went to talk to Ali about it.

‘She's so sweet, I know now that she didn’t mean to hurt me and it’s just the way sport is, but I don’t think I can go. The Gallery is so expensive and I can’t just presume that she’ll pay for me. She’s paid for me every time we go out anywhere, and I see that Ashlyn always tries to pay for you but you usually stop her. I can’t do that’

‘We’re in different situations Sarah, have you thought that maybe you should tell Abby about your past?’ Ali asked

I’m not sure, it might put her off’ Sarah said reluctantly

Ali laughed ‘oh god she’s besotted with you, if you tell her it will only make her want to protect and spoil you even more.’

‘Do you think so?’ Sarah asked

‘I know so’ Ali confirmed ‘listen, Ashlyn has a horrible past, I don’t know it in great detail but Abby really took her under her wing when they became friends. She’ll do it more so with you’

Sarah had been born to one parent that really wanted her and one that didn’t. The parent that didn’t want her had subjected her and her mom to years of horrific abuse until Sarah was 10 when they were able to get away. Unfortunately with her mom being unskilled and young when she had Sarah, she’d had no opportunities for good jobs so money was really tight. Sarah was starting to feel bad about Abby always paying for her.

‘Can we talk?’ Sarah asked Abby

'Of course we can, anytime' Abby said 

Ali discreetly signalled to Ashlyn to move away with her leaving Sarah and Abby alone...


	4. Let's Talk

Ashlyn took the hint and followed Ali away from Abby and Sarah. ‘She’s not going to tell Abby that she doesn’t want to be friends with her anymore is she? Ashlyn asked Ali

 

‘No, she’s going to tell her something private. She had a tough upbringing and money’s tight. Abby’s asked her to go with her to her favourite restaurant tonight, and Sarah is worrying because she can’t return the favour so she’s going to tell her everything.’

 

‘Wow I’d never have guessed that looking at her, she’s so sweet you just don’t get the impression she's off a troubled past. You get it from me pretty quickly but not from her. You’d have to be an absolute monster to hurt someone as sweet as Sarah’ Ashlyn said shaking her head in disbelief.

 

Sarah sat next to Abby on a bench she stared at the ground ‘tell me what’s on your mind?’ Abby said gently nudging her

 

‘It’s hard’ Sarah said

 

‘Please don’t let it be, I want you to be able to tell me anything’ Abby said

 

‘I want to go with you tonight, but I worry about how much it will cost, I mean you always pay for me when we’re out and I just can’t return the favour’ Sarah said

 

‘I don’t expect you to!’ Abby exclaimed ‘I like spoiling you’

 

Sarah smiled ‘I like it too, but it’s just me and mom at home and things haven’t been straight forward. That “person” who was meant to be a parent and look after me actually abused mom and me for years and now we’re on our own on low income and….’ Her voice trailed off and she looked like she was about to cry.

 

Abby put her arm around her ‘none of this matters. You’re safe now and that’s what is important. Sarah my career is taking off really well, I’m very well paid and my family are wealthy. I really like spending time with you and I just don’t want this to come up again ok? When we go out I pay and that’s the end of it. When you’re ready perhaps you’ll tell me a little bit more, but for now I just want you to know that I get it. Ashlyn actually has a troubled past too. You may not have noticed but Ali often stops Ashlyn from paying for her, and neither of them makes a big deal about it. Ali is clearly from money, and Ashlyn really isn’t. Anyway enough of that, are you coming out with me tonight?’

 

Sarah nodded she fell into Abby’s arms and buried her face in her shirt, she held on tight for a long time and Abby loved the feeling of having her there, she was a perfect fit.

 

Sarah and Abby eventually came out to where Ali and Ashlyn were sitting ‘erm I’m gonna take Sarah for dinner at The Gallery this evening to apologise for yesterday, is it okay with you two if we don’t go out after all this evening? I know we had plans’ Abby told Ali and Ashlyn.

 

‘Yeah of course it’s fine with us’ Ali said giving Sarah a discreet wink ‘the four of us can just go out another time instead’

 

Everyone agreed and Abby dropped Sarah home to get ready, promising to pick her up at 7pm.

 

‘Well I’ll see you tomorrow Ash’ Ali said picking up her bag.

 

‘Wait!’ Ashlyn said a little bit more forcefully than she meant to. She quickly softened her voice ‘er do you maybe want to come to one of my favourite restaurants? It won’t be as glamorous as The Gallery I’m afraid but still very nice’ Ashlyn asked shyly _‘fuck what is happening to me, I’ve asked loads of girls to go somewhere with me before, this isn’t even a date and I feel all nervous and I’m starting to sweat, how unsexy’_ Ashlyn thought to herself

 

‘Yeah sure why not’ Ali replied grinning sexily at Ashlyn. She thought that it would be her that got a bit nervous around girls as she was new to this, it was funny watching Ashlyn who was used to asking girls to do stuff with her getting all embarrassed.

 

Ashlyn and Abby met together at home later that evening after dropping both the girls home. Ashlyn got in and she had a big grin on her face ‘hey’ Abby asked her ‘how did it go’

 

‘Good’ Ashlyn replied ‘Ali is a terrific girl, how was your evening?’

 

‘Really good too, Sarah is just gorgeous and so sweet’ Abby told her

 

Ashlyn flopped down on the sofa next to Abby. She put her hands behind her head and sighed contently grinning at nothing in particular.

 

‘So erm did you two kiss or anything?’ Abby asked

 

‘No’ Ashlyn said ‘to be honest it wasn’t like that, I mean we flirted a bit but I didn't think it was the right time for me to kiss her'.

 

Silence followed for a moment. ‘Hang on wait!’ Ashlyn said suddenly sitting up straight ‘did you two kiss?!’

 

‘No’ Abby said and she looked a little bit disappointed

 

‘Did you expect to?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘I’m not sure’ Abby replied


	5. A Day at the Pool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos, it's what keeps me writing.

The following week the four had a week off from training and Abby had invited everyone to the country club that her family were members of. Ali and Sarah got there first, Sarah had been with Abby before. 

‘Wow it’s nice here’ Ali said to Sarah

‘I know’ Sarah agreed. They were stood by the pool ‘what time will Abby and Ash be joining us, did Ashlyn say?’ 

‘Yeah she said 11.30, oh it’s 11.28 now so they’ll be here any minute’ Ali said

‘Good. Shall we take these 4 sun loungers?’ Sarah asked

‘Are you sure you’re ok being this close to the pool?’ Ali asked. She knew that Sarah was really uncomfortable around water.

‘Yes I’m fine as long as I don’t have to go in it, though Abby managed to get me to dip my feet in last time we were here’

Sarah had nearly been drowned once when she and her mother were being abused at home.

‘Aww that’s really good to hear’ Ali said pleased knowing how hard it was for Sarah to get into water

‘I’ll just go in to the club house and get us some towels’ Sarah said seeing a sign saying towels were inside ‘you sit here and reserve these sun loungers’

Abby and Ashlyn were just pulling up in the parking lot at that moment.

Sarah had returned with the towels before Abby and Ali arrived and they were just starting to undress to their bikinis that they had on under their clothes.

Abby and Ashlyn both wolf-whistled as they approached the girls. It was the first time they had seen Sarah and Ali in something so skimpy and it they really were impressed with how good they looked.

‘God you two are so embarrassing’ Ali told them realising that the whistling had made a few people look over.

‘Don’t blame us’ Abby told her ‘you two are just too hot’

‘Hey stop eyeing Ali up’ Ashlyn told Abby

‘Come here and stop me’ Abby told her ‘you were eyeing up Sarah too’

Ashlyn squared up to Abby ‘so what, she's a hottie you wanker’

‘Oooooh’ Sarah and Ali said giggling as this show of strength between Abby and Ashlyn

‘What did you call me Harris? Abby asked

‘You heard me!’ Ashlyn confirmed

There was no contest between Abby and Ashlyn really, Abby was taller and a completely different build to Ashlyn. That didn’t stop Ashlyn trying though.

‘Wanna stop before you get hurt?’ Abby asked

‘It’s you that will get hurt’ Ashlyn told her grinning

Abby nudged Ashlyn harder than she meant to which nudged her into Sarah who lost her balance slightly and started to fall towards the pool. Ashlyn’s goalkeeper reflexes saved the day as she quickly grabbed Sarah.

‘Woah fuck!’ Sarah said ‘that was close’

‘You idiots!’ Ali told Abby and Ashlyn ‘that would have been a serious problem if she’d fallen in then’

‘Come here’ Abby said taking Sarah from Ashlyn ‘are you alright, I’m sorry that was all my fault’

‘I’m fine’ Sarah grinned

Sarah and Ali finished getting undressed and Abby and Ashlyn took off their shirts and were already in their boardies. Sarah and Ali were enjoying the view of their muscles as much as Abby and Ashlyn were enjoying their skimpy bikinis.

‘Coming for a dip?’ Ashlyn asked Ali

‘Sure’ Ali told her and they stood up to go in the water it had got very hot

‘You go too Abby’ Sarah told her

‘I’m fine here’ Abby said grinning, she didn’t like Sarah feeling left out.

‘It’s very hot Abby, I really don’t mind if you want to go in’

‘I’d like you to come with me’ Abby said giving Sarah a puppy eyes look

‘Oh don’t give me that look. You know I find it hard Abby’ Sarah said giving Abby her puppy eyes look that was far better than Abby’s

‘I’ll never make you do anything you don’t want to, but I’d love it if you’d just come and sit on the top step with me. Just like you did last time when it was really hot’ Abby said

Sarah eventually nodded and allowed Abby to lead her to the main steps of the pool in the shallow end. She looked in envy at Ashlyn and Ali messing around in the deep end. Abby had a firm hold of her and she could feel Sarah clinging tight to her hand with both of her hands.

‘I’m going to sit on the top step and you just sit on the edge and then put your feet on the top step’ Abby sat down in the water all the time pushing Sarah gently back to make sure she couldn’t fall. Sarah sat on the edge of the pool and gingerly dipped her feet in and then lowered herself onto the step. Abby was so proud of her she kept an arm around Sarah all the time and was constantly looking around to make sure no one got too close.

Ali and Ashlyn spotted them in the water and swam up. Ali kissed Sarah as she came over ‘I’m so proud of you! It’s great seeing you in the pool’

Sarah felt very proud of her self.

‘Don’t splash her Ashlyn’ Abby warned

‘As if I would!’ Ashlyn exclaimed ‘I wouldn’t even splash Ali’

‘Unfortunately I’m not as considerate’ Ali said and sent a wave of water over Ashlyn

‘Urgh’ Ashlyn said clearing the water from her mouth and eyes ‘thanks for that Ali’ she grinned

‘I’m not either’ Abby laughed and as soon as Ashlyn had cleared her eyes Abby sent another wave of water over her.

Ali and Sarah giggled and Ashlyn liked having them laugh at her ‘I’ll get you back later’ Ashlyn warned Abby

‘I’ll be using Sarah as a shield all day I’m afraid’ she said

‘She is too good to spend time with you’ Ashlyn told Abby

‘Likewise’ Abby said looking at Ali

‘Beauty and the beast!’ Ashlyn told them

‘Right that does it’ Abby shouted and Ashlyn quickly swam off. Abby dived in after her again being cautious not to kick out with Sarah right behind her. Ali and Sarah giggled watching them chasing and fighting each other. Ali had got up on the step to sit next to Sarah while Abby wasn’t there.

A group of girls appeared behind them that had obviously been drinking and were not interested in anyone apart from their own circle.

‘Get out the fucking way’ one of them said to Sarah and Ali and kicked Ali’s arm

‘Ow!’ She exclaimed and took her hand off of Sarah to hold where it hurt.

Abby and Ashlyn both spun round as soon as they heard the “ow” which they recognised as coming from Sarah or Ali. They turned just in time to see some butches shove Ali and Sarah into the pool.

Abby and Ashlyn raced across the pool desperate to reach the girls particularly Sarah.

Fortunately Ali had grabbed her and pulled her up above the surface and pushed her to the side of the pool. She wasn’t strong enough to push Sarah out of the pool. But she held her up and out of the water. Abby and Ashlyn soon reached them. Abby left Ashlyn to deal with Sarah. She wanted revenge.

Ashlyn was strong and heaved Sarah out of the pool in a second. She carried her over to their towels and wiped her face and wrapped the towel around her. Sarah was near hysterical and choking violently. She spewed water all over Ashlyn while Ali was thumping her on the back. Ashlyn continued to hold her tight and support her while she was bringing up all the water she had swallowed.

Ali loved how Ashlyn didn’t care that Sarah was spitting water out all over her, she just held her tight and protected her. Keeping both girls well back and away from the beating Abby was currently delivering on the girl that had pushed Sarah into the water. 

‘I want to see’ Sarah spluttered out and Ashlyn turned so she could see Abby slam the girl by her head into the fence again. 

‘If you ever ever fucking come near one of my friends again, I’ll kill you’ Abby said holding her by the throat you could see her muscles bursting out. She finally threw the girl to the floor and then grabbed another one of them. She dragged her over to the other three ‘is this the one that kicked you Ali and pushed you in the pool?’

Ali nodded ‘over to you Ashlyn’ Abby said and took Sarah from Ashlyn 

Ashlyn smashed her fist through the girls face, kicked her 10 times harder than she had kicked Ali, and turned her back on her leaving her bleeding and groaning on the floor. 

Abby turned back to face the girl and her watching friends ‘this is our stomping ground so if you ever see us here again I suggest you just leave, or I’ll fucking make you’ she said and turned her attention back to Sarah.


	6. We Really Believed in You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will you ever forgive me for this chapter?!

The week off was over and the girls were back at training. Sarah had recovered from the experience at the pool. It was Friday evening and Ashlyn and Abby were in the changing rooms alone ‘do you want to go to Ultra Violet tonight’ Abby asked. It was one of their favourite clubs where there were lots of scantily clad girls for them to choose from.

 

Ashlyn considered for a minute ‘can’t we just go out with Sarah and Ali instead’?

 

Abby grinned ‘I’m so glad you said that, I feel the same. I feel different, the idea of going out getting laid just doesn’t appeal to me anymore. I’d rather be with Sarah. Do you think I’m falling for her?’

 

‘Yes. And I feel exactly the same about Ali. I’d rather spend a quiet time with Ali just talking than having sex with 2 hot twins’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Just look at us, how did this happen?’ Abby asked

 

‘I really don’t know. Shall we ask them out on official dates? I’m sure they feel the same as us, and if they don’t then I think I’d like to know now that it isn’t going to happen’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Well they do seem to want to spend all their free time with us’ Abby confirmed ‘God what are these girls doing to us’ Abby asked Ashlyn leaning back and sighing ‘I can’t think about anything but Sarah, it’s the Sarah channel broadcasting non-stop in my head’

 

‘I’m the same’ Ashlyn said with a grin ‘I feel like I’ve completely changed. For the first time we both wouldn’t rather be fucking two blonde twins’ laughed Ashlyn and Abby laughed too

 

Abby held up two fingers on each hand ‘that is the reason why we have two hands’ she laughed

 

 

(underlined text was over heard by Ali and Sarah).

 

Ali and Sarah had walked in at that moment. Ali had a look of disgust on her face and Sarah’s face was pure astonishment ‘you absolute pair of pigs!’ Ali said to them looking disgusted.

 

‘What do you mean?’ Ashlyn asked getting up and coming over to Ali

 

‘I heard you, you pig, no don’t touch me’ Ali said pulling away from Ashlyn’s hand that she had put soothingly on Ali’s arm

 

‘Heard what?’ Ashlyn said

 

‘How you’d like to be fucking two blonde twins’ Ali said astonished at Ashlyn playing dumb

 

‘That’s not what I said Ali, I said…..’ Ashlyn started

 

‘No shut up, I heard you. You can’t come back from this, we both heard’ Ali said turning to Sarah who nodded

 

‘I saw you agree with her Abby, you absolute pig. We really believed in you. Come on Ali’ Sarah said as Abby tried to protest

 

They picked up their things to leave, Abby and Ashlyn quickly blocked the door ‘no listen to us’ Abby said

 

‘NO!’ shouted Ali ‘I know what I heard, move out of the way’ she said trying to push Ashlyn but she was like a brick wall ‘move you bully’ Ali told her

 

‘Don’t call me that, I’m not a bully! Ashlyn said amazed at being called a bully

 

‘Yes you are’ Sarah said ‘you both are, you’ve blocked our way out because you’re stronger than us, just move we want to go, can’t you see neither of us wants to be here with you anymore? All you’re doing is proving we were right, you’re a total pair of pigs’

 

Abby and Ashlyn moved aside realising that they were being unfair, they were just upset because there had been a misunderstanding.

 

Once Ali and Sarah were away from Abby and Ashlyn they looked at each other in astonishment ‘I just can’t believe that of Abby and Ashlyn. After all that it really was just fake’ Sarah said

 

‘I know’ Ali said ‘I don’t know whether to be hurt or relieved that I’ve found out so quickly that she’s a total pig’

 

‘I just want to go home’ Sarah said ‘this changes everything now’

 

‘No, let’s not go home. We are two gorgeous attractive girls Sarah we don’t need them, plenty of people would find us attractive. We can still go out this evening; we can even get to know some new people’

 

Sarah agreed, the shock of Abby turning out to be so fake had really shocked her, distraction would be good for them both.

 

They went to a cocktail bar and just sat in silence staring at their drinks. A cute girl sent them another round of drinks and she came and talked to them, they were both so half hearted though that she soon lost interest and went back to her friends.

 

‘Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea’ Ali said ‘I know we aren’t official couples but I can’t stop thinking about Ashlyn, I’m trying not to be hurt but I am’ Ali said and her voice cracked and a few tears spilled out and Sarah couldn’t help but join her.

 

‘I’m so disappointed in Abby. I can’t possibly believe this is true’ Sarah said

 

‘Maybe we should have listened to them, they were adamant we were wrong’ Ali said ‘let’s look at our phones and see if they’ve even bothered to contact us’ They had both put their phones on silent away in their bags as they didn’t want to be bothered.

 

They were relieved to see several missed calls and messages begging them to let them explain.

 

‘Shall I text Ashlyn and say that we’re here and they can come and join us to explain if they want to?’ Ali asked

 

Sarah nodded ‘I want to hear what they’ve got to say, but it better be good’

 

Ali messaged Ashlyn and received a reply straight away simply saying “on our way x” they arrived in a matter of minutes.

 

‘Hey’ they both said cautiously approaching the table. They could see the girls had been crying and felt bad about that.

 

They motioned to Abby and Ashlyn to sit ‘so explain’ Ali said ‘this better be good’ she added not making eye contact with Ashlyn or Abby.


	7. Some Kind of Forgiveness

Abby and Ashlyn sat down. Ashlyn cocked her head to try and get Ali to make eye contact with her. She eventually did.

‘I didn’t say what you both thought I said’ Ashlyn began ‘you came in at the end of the conversation where we were talking about you and how you make us feel so different to how we were. We used to like going out and picking girls up but we don’t anymore’

Sarah rolled her eyes ‘don’t let us stop you’.

‘This is the whole thing, though you do stop us’ Abby explained ‘we only want to be with you two. You came in just as we were saying that we WOULDN’T rather be with two blonde twins’

‘Being perfectly honest that is something we might have done in the past, but we were saying how that isn’t us anymore’ Ashlyn continued.

'ok' Ali said quietly 'I still think it's disgusting when you talk about fingering two girls at the same time who are total strangers to you'

'It was just a joke' Abby said 'I honestly didn't mean anything by it, I've known Ashlyn a long time and we do say some stupid things to each other sometimes' 

‘It’s just hard for us when you talk like that’ Ali explained ‘I mean we know that you’re experienced and you’ve fingered girls before, but it makes us feel pressured when you’re so used to girls that seem to think it’s in any way normal to let someone put their fingers inside you the first time they meet you’

‘I could never let someone do that to me’ Sarah agreed ‘even when I am more experienced at it I still don’t ever see a time when I’d just let someone finger me that didn’t even care about me’

‘We really like that about you’ Abby said ‘and we’re both sorry if we’ve made you feel pressured’

Ashlyn nodded ‘very sorry, you’ll never get pressure from us’

‘Well I do feel pressured now’ Ali said ‘and if I do have to pull my pants down to keep you interested Ashlyn, then I’m afraid you won’t be interested for very long’

‘No’ Ashlyn said shaking her head looking Ali in the eye ‘it isn’t like that, you don’t have to do anything to keep me interested other than be yourself’

‘I mean come on you must be able to see that we care about you?’ Abby asked

Ali and Sarah both shrugged. Ali looked up and caught eyes with Sarah. She could feel hot tears welling up again and as soon as she caught eyes with Sarah she could see she felt the same and neither could stop the tears from spilling again.

‘Don’t please’ Abby said feeling horrible. She rubbed Sarah’s arm hoping that she wouldn’t push her away. She didn’t. ‘Do you believe us?’ Abby asked of Sarah and Ali

‘I think so’ Ali said quietly ‘it was just a horrible thing to hear’

‘You wanna get out of here?’ Ashlyn asked and they both nodded ‘come on’ she said helping Ali down from the stool while Abby did the same with Sarah. Ashlyn wiped Ali's tears away with her thumbs and put her arm around her she was glad not to be pushed away, and felt that she had been somewhat forgiven. Even though they weren’t couples yet, there was an understanding beginning to form.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the mature parts of the story won't be too far away now....or maybe they will ;)


	8. Self Defence

‘Syd got mugged on the way home last night did you hear?’ Ali asked the other three rushing over to them as they arrived at training.

 

‘Oh my god no way? How is she?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘She’s ok more shaken than anything, she co-operated so after they initially pinned her to the wall they didn’t do anything else to her’ Ali replied

 

‘That’s terrible’ Abby said ‘where did it happen and when?’

 

‘Around 12.30 last night down by the river’ Ali said

 

‘What on earth was she doing down there, that is a pretty rough area’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Taking a short cut I guess’ Sarah said ‘we went that way once after dark didn’t we Ali?’

 

‘We did yeah, it does save a lot of time, but I remember we were both scared’ Ali confirmed

 

‘Well don’t go that way again’ Ashlyn said concerned to both Sarah and Ali ‘erm please’ she added not wanting to sound controlling

 

They both agreed they definitely wouldn’t and training continued as usual though there was a funny mood with what had happened to Syd.

 

The next day the coach announced that training was off and they were having a special instructor come in and do self defence training instead.

 

‘Oh god do me and Ashlyn really have to do this?’ Abby asked ‘we can easily defend ourselves’

 

‘One on one perhaps yes but what if a group attacked you?’ their coach asked

 

Ashlyn and Abby reluctantly agreed to take part. And went into the large indoor hall that they had, where the class was to be held.

 

After the introduction everyone was asked to get into pairs. The girls all paired up with their usual training partners, and Ashlyn winked at Abby realising that maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all as it was an excuse to be all over Sarah and Ali.

 

‘Right are we ready…I’m going to…..oh no no no’ the instructor said while looking at Sarah and Abby ‘I’m afraid you two as beginners can’t work together the height difference between you is too much’ she looked around and split up Megan and Syd as well ‘right you Syd go with Abby and you Megan go with Sarah’

 

Abby was not happy she tried to argue that she would go easy on Sarah but the instructor was set in her decision, which left Abby feeling very sulky. The instructor noticed, she had come across Abby’s type before, very much the alpha butch that was good at getting her own way – well it wouldn’t be working today. She chose Abby to be her first volunteer so she could demonstrate the first self defence move to the others.

 

‘Are you sure you don’t want someone a bit smaller than me’? Abby asked. She was bigger than the instructor who was more Ashlyn’s size

 

‘No, you’ll do just fine’ she said and then put a dummy phone in her pocket and explained to Abby that she wanted her to approach her from behind, go to strangle her and then try to take the phone from her pocket. She made it clear that she wanted Abby to use her full strength, which Abby did.

 

Before Abby even knew what had happened the instructor had her flat on her back pinned to the floor. There came lots of giggling from everyone and Abby felt humiliated _‘fuck Sarah will have seen that, this is not a good look’_ Abby thought to herself.

 

Abby stood up and tried to compose herself she refused to meet eyes with anyone and didn’t look at Sarah in case she too was laughing. Abby guessed that she had perhaps made a bit of a nuisance of herself to the instructor and stayed quiet for a while.

 

They all practised a few moves together and Ashlyn felt it had been worthwhile – especially when Ali and she had got something completely wrong and ended up lying on the floor, Ali positioned perfectly between Ashlyn’s legs.

 

‘Ewww get a room’ Megan said to them both ‘no pussy on pussy in class’

 

‘Shut up Megan it was an accident’ Ali said looking embarrassed and sort of amused at the same time. She had felt the mound at the front of Ashlyn’s pussy against her and rather liked it.

 

They moved onto the next move.

 

Megan caught eyes with Abby and instead of getting a smile she was met with a very cold stare. She noticed throughout the next move that Abby continued to stare in her direction and it appeared to be that Abby was jealous because Megan's hands were all over Sarah. It wasn’t Megan’s fault that the class involved a lot of hands on.

 

As a total wind up merchant Megan couldn’t help but lead Abby on, she also made sure that at some point they lost balance and Sarah ended up on top of her.

 

‘It’s you that needs to get a fucking room Megan!’ Ashlyn shouted loudly and pointedly at Megan and Sarah on the floor. Sarah was laughing so much she had to be pulled up off the floor by both Ashlyn and Megan. No one apart from Megan noticed how furious Abby was. Sarah wasn’t her girlfriend officially but Abby felt that she had made her intentions clear to everyone.

 

The instructor showed them another move and this one ended up with the attacker on the floor and the victim with one hand around the attacker’s throat and one free hand.

 

‘Now we take no chances, you need to be able to disable this person as best as possible so what do you now have the power to do?’ the instructor asked the class

 

‘Smash them hard in the face?’ Ali guessed

 

‘Right! In a real situation you would now bring your hand down hard into their face preferably to the eye’ the instructor confirmed.

 

Everyone practised the move. It was the second to last one of the day and Megan was mostly just clowning around a bit now, bored of it all. She had Sarah pinned to the floor and was balanced over her in a silly way while Sarah was under her still laughing. Abby was no longer even looking in their direction she was inwardly fuming and couldn’t wait to get out of there.

 

There suddenly came a loud smack and crashing noise followed by a long yell of pain which Abby immediately recognised as Sarah. Abby spun round and saw Sarah doubled over yelling in pain holding her eye. Ashlyn who was closest to her grabbed her by her waist and pulled her up into a hug trying to look at her eye. She felt Abby’s strong arms grab Sarah from her and she held her close to her with one arm and grabbed Megan off the floor with her other hand by her collar

 

‘What the fuck did you do to her? Did you hit her?!!’ Abby yelled

 

‘No! I lost my balance’ Megan said while trying to pull away from Abby’s grasp ‘it was an accident’

 

If Abby and Megan were going to fight then Ashlyn was very concerned about getting Sarah away. She managed to remove Sarah from Abby’s arm and handed her to Ali ‘keep back’ she said to them both. Their coach took Ali and Sarah off to the treatment room while the instructor and Ashlyn were left to pull Abby and Megan apart.

 

‘If that’s your girl then go to her and go and cool off’ the instructor said firmly to Abby after she had released Megan from Abby’s grip.

 

Abby did as she was told, she wouldn’t have hit Megan as while she wasn’t femme, she wasn’t exactly butch either. She wanted to though.

 

She went to see Sarah who had calmed down and was now just quietly sobbing while being held by Ali who was also holding an ice pack to Sarah’s face. Abby took Sarah from Ali and held and comforted her.

 

She took Sarah back out to the main room and Megan came over to apologise.

 

‘Now there’s no permanent damage done, she’ll just have a black eye for a few days so all of you keep your heads please, it was just an accident’ the instructor said.

 

‘I’m really sorry Sarah’ Megan said to her regretfully Sarah shook Megan’s outstretched hand forgiving her immediately as she knew it was a total accident.

 

Megan turned to Abby ‘I’m sorry Abby’ she said ‘let’s be friends again I don’t want this to come between us’

 

But Abby was furious. She knew Megan had been winding her up by putting her hands all over Sarah. She gave Megan a rough shove backwards that sent her falling onto one of the crash mats. Megan pulled herself up her mouth pursed, she knew that Abby had done that to make herself feel better and knew that something like that was needed to clear the air but she still felt humiliated.

 

‘Right enough’ the instructor said coming over ‘someone will need to take Sarah home she can’t participate any further today, just one more move and we’re all done. Do we all think we can get through it without any more violence?’ She asked sarcastically.

 

‘I’ll take Sarah home’ Abby said

 

‘Oh no don’t you worry Abby’ Megan said with a false smile realising this was her chance to get Abby back for pushing her ‘Sarah was my partner so I should take her and then you can continue the lesson with your partner Syd’

 

‘I agree that makes sense’ the instructor said, before Abby could even argue Megan had her arm around Sarah and was leading her out of the hall she turned around and gave Abby a smug look.

 

Abby was beside herself with anger and it took Ashlyn quite some doing to calm her down. Eventually Abby accepted that it was just Megan being Megan and she calmed down and realised she would forgive her.

 

‘Anyway we’ve got more important things to think about’ Ashlyn said to Abby ‘it’s time we asked these two girls out. I don't want to wait any longer and we’ll both feel better knowing that we are actually dating. It will put a stop to people like Megan thinking they can mess around with us, and after the misunderstanding the other night I think we owe it to them to give some firm commitment’.

 

Abby agreed ‘right today is Wednesday, Friday we ask them out’.


	9. The Bra Incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember: your kudos let's me know you want more of this, if you like what you read hit that button ;)

Training went smoothly the next day and the four had planned to go back to Abby’s house for a barbecue after training. Ali, Ashlyn and Sarah were all sat changing their shoes when Abby appeared after having an ice bath. She was wrapped in a towel.

 

‘Fuck I needed that’ she said ‘it’s horrible but really does work’ she turned her back to Sarah and Ali so she was just facing Ashlyn and began to dry herself. She unhooked the towel and was about to begin to get dressed when Ashlyn made a noise of disgust.

 

‘Ewww Abby what the fuck is that hanging out your pussy? It’s bad enough having to see you naked without that’ Ashlyn said to Abby

 

Abby took the bait and looked down at herself wondering what on earth Ashlyn was referring to. She shook her head with relief as she realised what it was.

 

‘It’s called a tampon string you dickhead’ she said to Ashlyn ‘you made me worry then that I was developing slut meat’ she said and laughed

 

Ashlyn laughed too ‘oh god that would be so gross though it wouldn’t surprise me at all if you did have a slag’s hanging out pussy’

 

Both Ashlyn and Abby laughed and kept saying quite vulgar things. The subject soon changed but Sarah and Ali had both gone quite quiet.

 

‘You know, I think that I’ll go home first and get showered and changed there, then join you in about an hour and a half for the barbecue’ Ali said

 

‘Yeah me too’ Sarah said

 

‘No don’t’ Abby said ‘you both brought a change of clothes with you so you could come with us now’

 

But Sarah and Ali were quite insistent that they’d rather go home first, so Abby and Ashlyn let them go. They were surprised and a bit worried that the two girls had changed their minds, but an hour and a half later Sarah and Ali turned up just as they said they would.

 

They had a great time with the girls at the barbecue later, everything seemed to be fine and Abby and Ashlyn were absolutely certain that they mustn’t wait any longer, tomorrow was the day they were going to ask Sarah and Ali out.

 

Abby and Ashlyn were nervous they were trying to act cool but inside they had been distracted all day. Training eventually came to an end, and Abby and Ashlyn persuaded Sarah and Ali to do a bit of further training with them to ensure that they would get a chance to be alone after the others had left. The trained on for another hour and then Abby winked at Ashlyn.

 

‘Well I think that’s enough for today’ Ashlyn said ‘shall we go and get changed?'

 

Sarah and Ali agreed, completely oblivious that they were being set up.

 

‘Actually Ali could you wait out here a minute? We’ll catch you two up in a minute’ Ashlyn said winking at Abby to let her know that she was going to ask Ali out here and Abby could be alone to ask Sarah inside.

 

‘So enlighten me’ Ali said grinning at Ashlyn who was blushing a little bit

 

‘So erm Ali’ Ashlyn began

 

‘Yesss’ Ali said elongating the word ‘we’ve established that I am Ali, is there anything else you wanted to say?’ Ali suspected that this was the moment Ashlyn may be about to ask her out. She wanted it so much but wasn’t going to make it easy for Ashlyn.

 

‘We’ve known each other a while now’ she said ‘ _oh god how cliché am i?’_ Ashlyn thought to herself while falling over her words ‘and I er wanted to know if you would like to go on a date with me, you know just with me, just you and I. We could go to the cinema or a bra er bar or something’ ‘ _oh jesus fuck I did not just say bra in front of Ali!!!_ Ashlyn thought to herself _‘what a total fool I must look now’_

 

‘Oh’ Ali said grinning and Ashlyn knew that she must have noticed she said bra instead of bar ‘yes I think I’d like that’ she said eventually putting Ashlyn out of her misery.

 

‘Wow really?!’ Ashlyn exclaimed ‘what a relief! I’ve wanted to ask you for a while, since the second….’ She had been about to say since the second she’d met Ali but realised that didn’t sound cool ‘since erm since well for quite a while’ she said instead.

 

Ali knew what she had been about to say but she let Ashlyn play it cool. She appreciated it hadn’t been easy to ask her out and she was so pleased Ashlyn had done it.

 

Meanwhile inside Abby was having a very similar experience. She too was amazed at how flustered she was getting, she never got nervous around girls and had done this several times.

 

‘So Sarah I was just wondering if you would maybe like to go on a date with me?’ Abby asked

 

‘A date’? Sarah questioned

 

‘Yes a date, you know just you and me’ Abby confirmed

 

‘Like a girlfriend kind of thing?’ Sarah asked

 

‘Well sort of well no, just a date kind of thing’ Abby said trying to look cool as she panicked thinking Sarah was going to say no. This wasn’t going to plan at all.

 

‘So still just as a friends kind of thing? Very close friends I mean’ Sarah asked

 

‘Erm yes if you like’ Abby said

 

Sarah grinned ‘yes that would be nice’ she said shyly and moved in for a hug with Abby. Abby held her closely she felt and smelt so good, Abby was quite deflated at how that had gone. She hoped Sarah would jump at the chance but she hadn’t, she had just twisted it into some sort of friendship thing.

 

Ali and Ashlyn came in at that point. Ashlyn gave Abby a double thumbs up to show that it had gone well when Ali’s back was turned. Sarah was still in Abby’s arms and over her shoulder Abby gave Ashlyn a doubtful look and a middle thumb to show she was neither sure it had gone well or badly.

 

Sarah and Ali soon left together to get ready for their dates later. Abby and Ashlyn had agreed to pick them up at 8.00.

 

‘So how did it go’ Abby said getting in first when the girls were out of earshot.

 

‘Oh my god better than I could have imagined, I rambled like an idiot but eventually asked her and she said yes’ Ashlyn grinned ‘how about you, you seemed unsure yet she was in your arms looking very content when we came in’

 

‘Well I asked her out and she sort of twisted it round to a “do you mean just as friends” type thing. I found myself agreeing that I meant just as friends when I really didn’t and now I don’t know what to think’ Abby said

 

‘Oh’ Ashlyn said disappointed for her friend. She really wanted Abby to be happy with someone and really wanted the four of them to all be best friends as two couples. Now it didn’t seem so certain. Ashlyn wanted to remain positive though ‘she’s young Abby, 5 years younger than you and a little bit younger than Ali too so I think she just needs a bit more time. Go out with her as friends and let her see that she can trust you and you aren’t just trying to get her into bed’

 

‘Ok’ Abby agreed, she was obviously still disappointed but it wasn’t as if Sarah had said “no” outright. ‘Where are you going to take Ali?’

 

‘A surfer café by the beach I think. I’d like to take her somewhere fancy but I know I’ll be nervous so I think I’ll take her somewhere relaxed and then we can go and sit on the beach afterwards and watch the sunset’

 

‘Sounds very romantic Ashlyn’ Abby said

 

‘How about you?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘I think I’ll just take her somewhere nice where two people can talk and just sit for the whole evening, I’m not going to do the whole romantic thing as I think that might scare her off even more’ Abby replied

 

‘Sounds like a good idea, and hopefully tomorrow things will may be different between you’ Ashlyn said reassuringly.

 

They headed home glad they had two bathrooms as both were going to take a while getting ready for what was to be the first chance to really impress the two girls that had made such an impact on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the first official dates will come in the next chapter :)


	10. The First Date

Ashlyn got dressed she was going to go for the full shirt and tie look but decided where they were going was a bit too casual for that. She put on a fitted red shirt on top of some smart tight fitting trousers. She spent a long time on her hair and make up and was very pleased with how she looked in the mirror. She decided to go with the tie after all. Even though it wouldn’t fit in with the décor of where they were going she knew she needed to look a cut above the rest and a tie did that.

 

She looked at the clock ‘well here goes’ she muttered to herself nervously and she made the drive to Ali’s house. Ashlyn went to the door to collect Ali, she was never one to honk from the driveway.

 

Two girls came to the door, they both looked like Ali in different ways but were much older.

 

‘Oh hi’ Ashlyn said surprised ‘erm I’m here to pick up Ali’

 

‘We know’ one of the girls said

 

‘Erm I’m Ashlyn’ Ashlyn said trying to break the ice of the frosty reception, she offered her hand

 

‘We know who you are Ashley’ the same girl said ignoring Ashlyn’s hand. The other girl quickly took her hand though as if to make up for the other one’s rudeness

 

‘I’m Samantha and this is Andrea’ she said introducing herself and the frosty girl ‘we’re Ali’s sisters’

 

Ashlyn knew Ali had 2 older sisters, she didn’t quite realise there was such a big age gap though and clearly they were very protective of their little sister especially Andrea, who was still staring coldly at Ashlyn.

 

‘Nice to meet you’ Ashlyn said trying to smile ‘is Ali ready or should I wait in the car?’

 

She heard Andrea mutter something that sounded like “why not just fuck off” which she pretended not to hear, then Samantha answered ‘She’ll be right down, in fact here she is now’

 

Ashlyn was aware of Andrea staring right at her almost unblinkingly and tried to ignore it and focus on Ali.

 

Ali came to the door, and gave Ashlyn her killer smile. Ashlyn was absolutely bowled over. Ali was always beautiful but she was wearing a white floaty sundress that came down to mid thigh length with a flowery pattern on it. Ashlyn was used to seeing Ali’s legs but they looked exceptional in this dress.

 

‘Thanks for answering the door’ Ali said to Samantha and Andrea clearly hinting that they could go now.

 

‘Have a good time’ Samantha said dragging Andrea away

 

‘Have her back by midnight Ashley’ Andrea said then muttered ‘if Ali really must stoop as low as someone like you’

 

Ali glared at her ‘it’s AshLYN not AshLEY as you well know Andrea’ while Ashlyn again pretended not to hear.

 

They disappeared.

 

‘Wow’ Ashlyn said to Ali her mouth hanging open ‘you look absolutely beautiful’

 

‘Thanks’ Ali grinned ‘not looking so bad yourself’ she replied eyeing Ashlyn up, her eyes resting on the tie.

 

Ashlyn was pleased that for once she managed to hold her own and return the sexy grin without going red, and also so pleased that she’d gone with the tie after all – it clearly impressed Ali.

 

Someone else then appeared from behind Ali, and Ashlyn sighed to herself. The woman put her arm around Ali, it was obviously her mom.

 

Ali grinned round at her ‘mom this is Ashlyn’ Ali said introducing them.

 

Ashlyn shook hands with Ali’s mom feeling a bit shy and not sure what to expect, she really didn’t want Ali’s mom to not like her.

 

Fortunately she gave her a warm smile which Ashlyn returned ‘do you want to come in for a while?’ She asked Ashlyn

 

‘Er no we have reservations mom so we better get a move on’ Ali told her and kissed her

 

‘Well you’re welcome here anytime Ashlyn’ Ali’s mom told her liking the look of this blonde goalkeeper.

 

Ashlyn thanked her and told Ali how nice she thought she was.

 

‘Oh yeah I was at the top of the pile when mom’s were being handed out’ Ali told Ashlyn pleased at this praise of her mom ‘Sarah was too, her mom’s so sweet’

 

‘I think I was at the bottom’ Ashlyn grinned and Ali patted her

 

‘You could never be at the bottom of anything’ she said grinning.

 

Ashlyn grinned back and they set off for the café.

 

Ali absolutely loved the café it was so relaxed and they shared a really good seafood platter. They were sipping a shared cocktail after their meal relaxing and talking.

 

‘Thanks for bringing me here it’s really been good’ Ali told Ashlyn leaning in close, she kissed Ashlyn on the cheek and rested her head on her shoulder. They were sitting quite far apart so Ali was at a bit of an awkward angle.

 

Ashlyn gently gestured that she wanted to move Ali’s chair closer and was pleased when Ali lifted herself up slightly so that she could move the chair. Ali sat back down and again returned to her previous position and Ashlyn put her arm around Ali. Ali reached up her hand to hold Ashlyn’s hand that was draped over her shoulder.

 

_‘This is perfect, this really couldn’t be going better’_ Ashlyn thought to herself. Ali had a lovely sweet smell that Ashlyn couldn’t get enough of and each time there was a gentle breeze she got a citrusy smell from her hair. She gave Ali a squeeze and Ali grinned up at her.

 

‘Do you wanna go and sit on the beach and watch the sunset?’ Ashlyn asked. Ali nodded.

 

Ashlyn walked Ali down to the beach, she slipped her hand in Ali’s and they linked their fingers. They caught eyes and grinned shyly at each other.

 

Some teenagers were having a water fight and some of the water sprayed onto Ashlyn and Ali. Ashlyn found it a quite welcome relief from the warm sun, but she felt Ali suddenly press close to her. She looked down at her and saw a slightly worried expression.

 

‘Are you ok?’ Ashlyn asked concerned

 

‘Yeah, it’s just my dress is white and it might go a bit see through if it gets wet’ Ali said ‘I’m sure they sprayed me on purpose then’

 

Ashlyn immediately protectively moved Ali to her other side and frowned over at the teenagers. None of them saw her frown though. Again they came nearer to them and sprayed towards Ali and Ashlyn. Ashlyn couldn’t quite tell if it was on purpose or not.

 

‘Hey’ she suddenly said to them ‘you spray us again and I’ll kick you into next week, get it?’ she said assertively but not aggressively.

 

Ali was very impressed with how Ashlyn handled it and also at the effect she had on the teenagers, not one of them dared to cross her. One muttered an apology and they moved away while Ali and Ashlyn kept walking. Ali grinned up at Ashlyn. They were near to the sea front and Ashlyn stopped for them to sit down, she untied the sweater she had tied around her waist that she had brought along (not for herself but for Ali!) in case they were out late and it got a bit colder. She laid it down so that Ali could sit on it and not get her dress dirty.

 

They sat together and talked and giggled while holding hands and cuddling together.

 

‘Look out!’ got yelled from behind them and Ashlyn turned her head quickly. A ball was coming towards Ali’s head Ashlyn instinctively put her hand out and knocked it away saving Ali from being hit ‘sorry about that’ the girl that came to collect it said.

 

‘It’s okay’ Ashlyn said grinning at her she knew it had been an accident.

 

‘Wow you really are a keeper’ Ali told her grinning while resting her head back on Ashlyn’s shoulder

 

‘In more ways than one’ Ashlyn said grinning down at Ali, and then it happened. Ali slowly sat up and reached her lips up to Ashlyn’s and they met for the first time. They held their lips together for a good 10 seconds. Then Ali pulled back and looked at Ashlyn then she smiled and moved in for a proper kissing session. Ashlyn lay back and pulled Ali down with her. They made out on the beach.

 

After a little while Ali lay back on Ashlyn’s chest grinning up at the sky. She suddenly yawned and shivered a little.

 

‘Aww are you getting tired and cold’? Ashlyn asked concerned

 

‘A little’ Ali admitted

 

Ashlyn sat them both up as Ali was now on her lap she picked up her sweatshirt and gave it a shake then wrapped it around Ali ‘come on let’s get home’ Ashlyn said to her.

 

‘Shall we go back to your house?’ Ali asked


	11. Will They, Won't They?

Ashlyn looked at her in surprise ‘Erm yeah we can go back to mine’ Ashlyn said. She really didn’t know what to expect now. She told herself firmly to expect nothing and let Ali lead.

They got back to Ashlyn’s house. Abby wasn’t back yet and Ashlyn was glad about that, it was a good sign that her date with Sarah was still ongoing. Ashlyn got them both a drink and they sat on the sofa. Ali climbed onto Ashlyn she straddled her ‘woah’ Ashlyn said not expecting that at all.

‘What am I crushing you?’ Ali asked starting to shift.

‘No, no just wasn’t expecting that’ Ashlyn said grinning. She pulled Ali back down onto her and they made out some more. They started to shift into a lying position. 

Ashlyn moved her knee up as she was worried it was digging into Ali. Unfortunately her knee lifted Ali’s dress and she got a glimpse of the tan underwear that she was wearing.

‘Oh god sorry!!’ Ashlyn exclaimed quickly pulling down Ali’s dress again. In her anxiousness to quickly cover Ali her fingers accidentally brushed against in between her legs. Ashlyn acted like she hadn’t noticed and hoped Ali wouldn’t say anything about it, fortunately she didn’t.

‘I bet that’s the first time you’ve actually pulled a girl’s dress down Ashlyn’ Ali said cheekily ‘I bet usually you can’t wait to lift it up’

Ashlyn grinned ‘I’m not that bad am i?’ she asked

‘Not at all’ Ali grinned ‘I am though’ she said surprisingly which made Ashlyn look up in surprise ‘seriously I don’t care if you see up my dress’ Ali told her

‘I’ll keep that in mind’ Ashlyn said unsure where this was going ‘it really was an accident though!’ she confirmed

‘Shame’ Ali told her leaving Ashlyn a bit gobsmacked she really didn’t know what to say. They made out some more and Ali put Ashlyn’s hand on her thigh. Ashlyn stroked her thigh but she didn’t move her hand any higher. She loved this but was surprised.

‘Careful Ali, Abby could be back at any moment’ Ashlyn said between kisses

‘Take me somewhere a bit more private then’ Ali said leaving Ashlyn gobsmacked again. Ali stood up and held out her hand to Ashlyn. Ashlyn took her hand and lead Ali to her bedroom where they wouldn’t be disturbed. She discreetly slipped an elastic band over the door handle which was a signal that she and Abby used to let each other know not to disturb.

They went into the room and closed the door. Ali wrapped her arms around Ashlyn’s neck, stood on tiptoes and kissed her again she pulled away slightly ‘so did you like my underwear?’ She said with a little smirk

‘Very much’ Ashlyn confirmed with a similar smirk. She felt herself getting wet and tried to firmly tell herself to stop that. Surely they weren’t about to have sex?

‘I’m finding them a bit restrictive’ Ali said and to Ashlyn’s surprise she then turned around and took her tan thong off then put it over Ashlyn’s head as if it was a necklace. Ashlyn had never been more turned on, a girl had never done anything like this before, usually they just pulled her to the bed and got straight down to business.

Ali slowly lead Ashlyn to the bed she lay down carefully so as to keep her dress down and Ashlyn lay to the side of her. She started kissing Ali again and they were moving around. Ali’s dress started to ride up.

‘Erm careful Ali’ Ashlyn warned and she pulled the dress down

Ali giggled ‘you need to stop doing that, I don’t care if you see up my dress. Let me help you in fact’ Ali said and then she lifted her dress giving Ashlyn a very clear look inbetween her legs.

Ashlyn just stared like she was hypnotised no words would come out. She had a beautiful girl, in fact the girl of her dreams, on her bed and now she was semi naked on her bed.

‘Are you sure you’re comfortable Ali?’ Ashlyn asked

‘Yeah’ she laughed ‘it’s not like I haven’t done this before you know’

‘Oh’ Ashlyn said disappointed, she had thought Ali was a virgin, but she had never actually asked, she was so sure though. She knew she couldn’t judge her as she certainly wasn’t a virgin, but she had to admit to herself that she had desperately wanted to be Ali’s first when the time was right.

‘Like what you see?’ Ali asked

‘Hell yes’ Ashlyn nodded

‘So have a closer look’ Ali told her

Ashlyn gingerly put her fingers on Ali’s lips, she pushed them apart taking a closer look. Ashlyn felt like she was going to explode. Ali had long inner lips and they were just beautiful like petals and butterfly wings all at once, it was the most beautiful pussy she had ever seen.

‘I meant open it right up’ Ali told her ‘open the inner lips and have a good look’

Ashlyn did as she was told she made a V with her two fingers and looked into Ali’s opening.

‘Notice anything?’ Ali asked her

It was very very tight, and Ashlyn told her so, it looked like she had never been touched there at all. Ashlyn questioned Ali puzzled ‘did your last girlfriend have very small hands, it looks like you still have your hymen?’ She asked trying to lighten the mood a bit. ‘I think though I can push one finger in without breaking it’ she said gently pressing her finger tip to it ‘have you only been fingered with one finger before?’

Ali shook her head, she moved Ashlyn’s hand away and closed her legs and moved her dress down.

Ashlyn suddenly felt guilty, had she gone too far? Ali had seemed very keen and now suddenly didn't seem so keen.

‘I’ve never been fingered at all, so in fact I actually haven’t done this before and nothing has ever gone inside my pussy, that is being saved for someone special’ Ali confirmed

Ashlyn was puzzled. She didn’t know what to say and what was happening. She waiting for Ali to continue

‘Did you notice anything else about my pussy?’ Ali asked

‘Not really, other than that it was very beautiful’ Ashlyn replied

Ali stood up off of the bed, she reached over to Ashlyn’s neck and took her knickers back and started to put them back on ‘didn’t notice my “slag's hanging out pussy”?’ She then asked of Ashlyn.

Ashlyn’s blood suddenly ran cold. The jokes that she had made with Abby yesterday had hurt Ali. Ashlyn wasn’t immature, it really had just been a joke, she knew pussies came in all shapes and sizes. Was this not really a date now but just payback? She'd hurt Ali with her comments, now was Ali hurting her by pretending she wanted to date Ashlyn when she no longer did after her immature jokes?

It had been such a good date, Ashlyn knew inside she was absolutely head over heels for Ali now, and if Ali suddenly told her it was just pay back she'd be devastated.


	12. Commando

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A nice long chapter for you :)

 

Ashlyn felt so ashamed of herself ‘I’m really sorry about what I said, I mean it that I found it beautiful. I thought you went quiet yesterday and I wasn’t sure why. Did you only agree to still go out with me to teach me a lesson?’ Ashlyn asked. She finally took her eyes off the ground and looked up to Ali.

 

Ali could see there were tears in her eyes. She wasn’t actually mad at all, she was very body confident, so Ashlyn’s comments hadn’t hurt her she just wanted to teach her not to be so judgemental.

 

‘No’ Ali told her ‘I agreed to go out with you because I wanted to. The only lesson I wanted to teach you was not to make jokes about someone’s body over something they can't help. You’ve seen for yourself now that someone can be a virgin without having perfect lips, it has nothing to do with being a slag’

 

‘I’m really sorry’ Ashlyn said again ‘I promise I won’t make those kind of jokes again, it wasn’t funny it was just inconsiderate and stupid’

 

Ali grinned down at Ashlyn she sat on her lap ‘sorry that you aren’t gonna get laid tonight’ she said laughing

 

Ashlyn was pleased to see that Ali wasn’t upset at all ‘I have to admit I was surprised when you started coming on to me! And it really shook me when you said you weren’t a virgin as I really thought you were’

 

‘Well now you know that I am, and I intend to stay one until the time is right. So I’m afraid that’s your lot for a while’ Ali grinned.

 

Ashlyn nodded she understood that and certainly wasn’t looking to rush Ali. She looked over at the clock ‘fuck Ali, it’s 1.30am! Your mom and sister will be after me, I should have had you home hours ago!’

 

‘Shhhhhh’ Ali said putting her finger on Ashlyn’s lips ‘I told mom I’m staying out tonight, if that’s ok? And I really don’t care what Andrea says she’s always tried to boss me around and I’m way too old for it now’

 

‘You want to stay here?’ Ashlyn said surprised

 

‘If you don’t mind’ Ali confirmed

 

‘Of course I don’t mind’ Ashlyn confirmed ‘erm do you want to sleep in here and I’ll sleep in the front room?’

 

Ali shook her head ‘no, sleep in here with me Ashlyn. I trust you - girlfriend’ she added with a grin and pushed Ashlyn back down onto the bed and wrapped herself up in Ashlyn’s arms with her leg over Ashlyn’s.

 

They fell asleep like that, in their clothes both very content. Ashlyn was over the moon that Ali had just confirmed herself to be her girlfriend.

 

The next morning Abby was very surprised when both Ali and Ashlyn came out of Ashlyn’s room. She’d seen the elastic band the night before and wondered what was going on. She managed to stop herself from saying anything about it when Ashlyn firmly shook her head at her.

 

‘Erm coffee both of you?’ Abby asked

 

‘Thanks’ Ashlyn said

 

‘I think I’ll have a shower before I have anything if that’s ok?’ Ali said

 

‘Of course’ Ashlyn said ‘I’ll get you a towel’

 

‘Thanks, can you get some clothes for me as well please?’ Ali asked ‘I don’t want to put these back on’

 

‘Yeah sure, put the cream coloured dressing gown on, that’s my one, when you come out and then we can go through my clothes to see what you might possibly consider wearing’ Ashlyn grinned. She and Ali had very different tastes.

 

Ali went off to the bathroom.

 

‘Ashlyn Michelle Harris you sly dog’ Abby told her when she came back into the room without Ali ‘You got Ali to fold on the first night?’

 

‘Noooo it wasn’t like that, we just came back here and it got late so she stayed over, we just kissed and cuddled nothing else’ Ashlyn said not able to look Abby in the eye

 

‘Really?’ Abby said and raised her eyebrows

 

‘Honestly’ Ashlyn confirmed then she looked towards the door to make sure there was no sign of Ali yet and couldn’t resist telling Abby a bit more ‘I did see her pussy though’ she whispered

 

‘Fuck Ash! She showed you the Krieger goodies then didn’t let you do anything with them?! She’s good’ laughed Abby ‘she knows how to keep you close’

 

‘I know!’ Ashlyn confirmed ‘anyway how was it last night for you, did you and Sarah have a good time? You haven’t told me anything yet’

 

‘It was good’ Abby said with a grin ‘I mean she didn’t come back here or anything but she did give me a quick kiss on the lips when I walked her to her door so that’s something’

 

‘I’m so glad!’ Ashlyn told Abby. She had been really worried that Abby and Sarah weren’t going to happen after all, but it seemed that Sarah just needed a bit more time than Ali.

 

 ‘Abby don’t tell Sarah I told you that Ali showed me her pussy will you? Ali would not be happy with me’

 

‘I won’t, and listen Ash, even though Sarah and I aren’t together yet I don’t want sex with these two being a competition between us ok?’ Abby asked

 

‘I completely agree’ Ashlyn confirmed ‘It’s up to the two of them if they discuss it between themselves but it’s very important we don’t put pressure on them by making it a competition between us’

  

Ali appeared again at that point all fresh and clean. She wanted breakfast before getting dressed. ‘I smell horrible’ she told them both ‘don’t either of you have some shower gel that smells even a little bit girly?’

 

‘Erm we don’t really have much demand for it here’ Abby said with a grin ‘you do smell a bit wrong in Lynx though’ she laughed

 

Ashlyn couldn’t relax throughout breakfast in case Ali’s dressing gown came untied in front of Abby. Fortunately it didn’t, but Ashlyn did notice Abby taking a good look just in case it did. At first she felt a bit annoyed with Abby, but then she considered that if Sarah was sat there in a dressing gown she’d take a good look too.

 

After finishing breakfast Ashlyn took Ali back to her room.

 

‘Right’ she said ‘let’s find you something to wear. Is this okay?’ she asked handing over a shirt

 

‘Ewww Ash no!’ Ali screamed when she realised it was a shirt from Ashlyn’s home football team, a total rival of the team Ali supported.

 

Ashlyn laughed and handed over a red T-shirt ‘how is that one?’

 

‘Yes that’s fine’ Ali said and turned her back on Ashlyn to put it on. ‘Fortunately I only have small breasts so going braless for a few hours won’t matter’

 

Ashlyn stared at Ali’s bare back unable to help herself then as Ali started to turn back around she quickly handed some tight fitting boxers to Ali ‘These are new’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Oh my god Ash, you can’t seriously expect me to wear boxers’ Ali said laughing

 

‘I don’t have anything else’ Ashlyn laughed

 

‘Hmm well I’ll try to go without then’ Ali said

 

‘Well be careful, because the seams in jeans are really uncomfortable if they get caught on your privates’ Ashlyn told her

 

‘Oh yeah? How do you know?’ Ali said grinning

 

‘It was a bad idea I once had on a date, I was uncomfortable all evening!’ Ashlyn grinned

 

‘Oh’ Ali said and stopped smiling, she didn’t like thinking that Ashlyn had dated before.

 

‘Anyway see how they fit’ Ashlyn said moving the subject on after noticing Ali’s facial expression change.

Ali took the dressing gown completely off now. Ashlyn’s T-shirt was long on her but when she moved Ashlyn got a glimpse in between her legs. She tried not to look, she wanted Ali to think that she could be fully controlled in front of her, she couldn’t help it though.

 

‘I’m a little bit cold actually’ Ali said and Ashlyn immediately stood up to get her a sweater

 

‘Try this one it’s quite small on me so should look okay on you’ Ashlyn said handing it to her and sat down on the edge of the bed.

 

Ali stretched her arms to put the sweater on which lifted the T-shirt again. While Ali’s head was inside the sweater Ashlyn got a chance to take a good look again, she couldn’t help but think of the day she’d get to push her tongue between those lips ‘ _fuck get a grip Ashlyn’_ She thought to herself and quickly looked away when Ali’s head reappeared out the top of the sweater.

 

She put the jeans on next finally ruining Ashlyn’s view! ‘Wow we are totally different shapes’ Ali said ‘the crotch is hanging right down, I don’t think there’s any danger of my privates getting caught in the seams’ Ali grinned

 

Ashlyn grinned back ‘I like that style, plenty of room for wondering hands’ she laughed

 

‘You’re so disgusting!’ Ali told her

 

‘I know. Anyway are we done?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘I think these will have to do’ Ali said rolling her eyes at Ashlyn. Ashlyn knew Ali was just messing around, she was actually grateful for the clothes ‘hopefully one day you’ll find yourself having to borrow some of my clothes Ashlyn’ Ali told her

 

‘Nuh-uh’ Ashlyn replied shaking her head ‘I think I’d rather go naked!’

 

They went back out to the front room. Abby smiled to see Ali in Ashlyn’s clothes

 

‘You look strangely cute in those’ Abby told her smiling suggestively

 

‘Right that’s it, we’re going before Abby pounces you’ Ashlyn said knowing full well Abby never would. ‘She’s got no underwear on you know’

 

Abby laughed as Ali punched Ashlyn.

 

There were some fans hanging around the house. Fortunately this didn’t happen often, so Ashlyn was quite happy to sign a few autographs, she noticed however that a reporter was with them

 

‘Quite early for you to have come over Ali’ the reporter said

 

‘Well we had some football things to talk about’ Ali said being very friendly she wasn’t giving anything away though

 

‘Interesting choice of clothes too’ the report said

 

‘These are Ashlyn’s’ Ali said laughing and the fans all giggled too, it was obvious that Ashlyn and Ali were becoming an item but they didn’t want to confirm it to the press.

 

‘I bet that’s not the first time you’ve been in Ashlyn’s pants’ the reporter said grinning slyly

 

‘What?’ Ali said looking puzzled, the smile leaving her face

 

‘Ok we’re going’ Ashlyn said putting her hand on the small of Ali’s back steering her away while glaring at the reporter.

 

‘What did she say?’ Ali asked Ashlyn in the car, Ashlyn had a quite bemused look on her face.

 

‘She said that you wearing my pants was probably not the first time you had been inside them’ Ashlyn said

 

‘But it is the first time I’ve worn some of your clothes though’ Ali said confused

 

‘I know “being in someone’s pants” is an expression for fingering them. Basically saying that you are in my pants now, as in wearing them, and also that you have been in my pants before as in put your hand inside them’

 

‘But that’s a disgusting thing to say to me’ Ali said to Ashlyn looking disappointed

 

‘Never under estimate journalists Ali, they stop at nothing’ Ashlyn said sighing.


	13. Pantsed

‘I think I just saw your mom Sarah’ Ashlyn said to Sarah one morning at training.

 

‘My mom?’ Sarah questioned ‘it can’t have been, she’ll be at work’

 

‘I must have been mistaken then, it definitely looked like her though. Whoever she was she was a hottie’ Ashlyn said with a grin.

 

Abby laughed too and Ali grinned and rolled her eyes. Sarah’s mom was young, looked just like her daughter and was very sweet. Ashlyn had run into Sarah and her mom in town shopping last week, and had been introduced. Sarah’s mom had thought that Ashlyn was lovely.

 

Ashlyn was almost certain it was Sarah’s mom she had seen but thought no more about it.

 

Sarah excused herself to the others and wandered off. There was no reason for her mom to be at training, she wondered if perhaps the club was cancelling her contract and about to drop her. She thought they would tell her not her mom, but she was under 21 so she questioned if perhaps there was some clause that they would tell her mom first. She thought that sounded ridiculous though.

 

Sarah wandered around inside the building, she went out the front to have a snoop in the car park to see if she could spot her mom but saw nothing of concern just as she was walking back in though she did bump into her mom.

 

‘Mom! Why are you here?’ Sarah asked surprised ‘Ashlyn said she thought she saw you but I thought she must be wrong’

 

‘I wanted to have a word with your coach, without you knowing if truth be told though’ her mom told her not wanting to hide anything from Sarah now she had been caught.

 

‘What about?’ Sarah asked puzzled and concerned

 

‘About you coming home with a serious groin injury and a black eye, I know you told me it was an accident, but I was worried someone is targeting you and you’re keeping it from me’

 

‘MOM!!! I’m not 12 anymore. They were both total accidents. Why couldn’t you have asked me?’ Sarah exclaimed

 

‘Because you might have been embarrassed about it and not told me, I wanted to hear from your coach that both incidents were really accidents, and you know I feel concerned about you being around Abby, she’s so much bigger than you Sarah’

 

‘Oh god this is so embarrassing’ Sarah told her mom ‘you’re too over protective and Abby is a total teddy bear, you need to trust me on that’

 

‘I do, I just wanted to be sure. You’re coach reassured me that both incidents were an accident. I’m sorry Sarah I just needed to make sure for myself that nothing was going on’ her mom explained

 

‘Please just ask me in future’ Sarah said to her. She hugged her and kissed her goodbye. She knew her mom was just protecting her but it was annoying for her how her mom didn’t seem to be comfortable with Abby.

 

Sarah went back inside.

 

‘Another date tonight girlfriend?’ Ashlyn asked Ali

 

‘Definitely’ Ali grinned back ‘where are you taking me?’

 

‘Picnic on the beach then a nice walk along it? Ashlyn suggested

 

‘Sounds good’ Ali grinned ‘though don’t make it too long of a walk’ and then she leaned over and whispered into Ashlyn’s ear ‘I’m going braless tonight so you might want to leave some time to take me somewhere a little bit more private’

 

When Ali pulled away Ashlyn was wide eyed and open mouthed. She couldn’t actually put any words together and just stood there doing a goldfish mouth. Ali loved the reaction it had on her and walked off sexily leaving Ashlyn to her own thoughts.

 

Ashlyn stayed on a bit to do some more penalty shoot practise after training had finished, she figured Ali would take ages getting ready for their date so she may as well do something useful. The coach was very pleased with her she was really coming along. She sat by the pitch after practise slowly putting her things into her bag when Sarah came out.

 

‘Finally there you are, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!!’ She said all flustered and Ashlyn stood up

 

‘What’s the matter?’ She asked concerned

 

‘It’s Ali, she’s crying and won’t talk to anyone’ Sarah told her

 

Ashlyn dropped her things immediately and followed Sarah into the changing rooms, her mind was in a whirl _‘oh fuck what if she’s regretting what she said earlier and now she’s worried that I’m expecting something tonight. I wonder if I did something that made her think I was putting pressure on her’_ Ashlyn thought to herself.

 

They were soon in the changing rooms. Ali was sat on a bench with her knees up and her face buried in them. Her arms were folded over her knees hiding her face.

 

Abby was sat next to her with her arm around her, she moved when she saw Ashlyn, and Ashlyn immediately took her place and wrapped her arms around Ali.

 

She kissed her head and held her close ‘did someone cause this?’ Ashlyn asked hoping desperately that it wasn’t her that had caused it, but not wanting Ali to have been upset by any situation.

 

Abby and Sarah looked at each other and then nodded ‘what the fuck happened?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Someone pantsed her’ Sarah said quietly

 

‘What?’ Ashlyn said in disbelief ‘I can’t believe this, Ali is the sweetest girl here why would someone even think about doing that to her? Who was it?’

 

The room went silent and everyone looked at the ground ‘Tell me now who was it?’ She demanded ‘own up’ Ashlyn said

 

Megan came forward ‘I’m sorry Ash I just wasn’t thinking, she was talking to Abby and Sarah while stretching her arms over her head and I didn’t even think about who it was, I just did it’

 

‘Did anyone see anything?’ Ashlyn asked, she knew that Ali wasn’t body shy but she would really not want the others to see her private parts.

 

‘Only me’ Sarah confirmed much to Ashlyn’s relief ‘and It's nothing I haven't seen before, Megan probably saw her rear end though, she somehow managed to pull her underwear down as well as her shorts’

 

‘What about Abby?’ Ashlyn asked ‘did she see?’ Ashlyn really didn't want Abby seeing Ali.

 

‘No I was looking the other way’ Abby confirmed and Sarah nodded.

 

Ashlyn was still furious ‘I feel like you’ve sexually assaulted her Megan. What the fuck is wrong with you?!’

 

‘It was an accident, I meant to just get her shorts’ Megan said

 

‘I don’t care, she’s such a sweet girl Megan she didn’t deserve that. You know what fuck off now cos I’m about to snap’ Ashlyn yelled at her. Abby could see she was fuming.

 

‘Piss off Megan now’ Abby confirmed ‘oh and kiss this’ she said and gave Megan’s shorts a good yank pantsing her properly in front of everyone ‘feels great doesn’t it’ she said and turned her back on Megan not even caring about her reaction. Megan left without speaking to anyone.

 

‘Can I just make it clear now to anyone else that might be thinking about doing something to Ali, just don’t fucking bother she is out of bounds and the same goes for Sarah as well. Leave them alone!’ Ashlyn told the rest of their team mates.

 

The coach came in at that moment ‘Abby can you stay for a while I need to have a word with you, it might take a while’ she said hinting to the others that they shouldn’t wait for her’

 

‘I’ll take Sarah home’ Ashlyn confirmed with a fist bump at Abby

 

‘Thanks’ Abby said then shrugged at Sarah unsure as to why she had been asked to stay behind. ‘I’ll see you in the morning’ she grinned at Sarah then went off with the coach to her office.

 

‘Abby this isn’t easy’ the coach began and Abby felt concerned about what might be coming next ‘I had the mother of one of our younger players in here earlier concerned about her daughter’

 

‘What’s that got to do with me?’ Abby asked puzzled

 

‘She was concerned that you might be deliberately targeting her. Can you confirm to me that you are absolutely not befriending Sarah Huffman simply with the intention of using your power to hurt her?’

 

‘Of course I’m not!’ Abby exclaimed horrified at the accusation ‘did her mom think that?!’

 

‘No. she didn’t accuse anyone, she was just worried about her, and making it clear to the club that she was aware Sarah has been hurt twice and a third time she will want an investigation. Sarah had a very rough past Abby, so please respect that her mother has to protect her and don’t question Sarah about this, I’d prefer she didn’t know I have talked to you’

 

‘Ok’ Abby sighed disappointed that this had happened, she understood though why Sarah’s mom would be protective. She left training that night feeling quite deflated and glad she wasn't meeting up with the others.

 

Ali cheered up after being comforted by Ashlyn and they went on their date as planned. As expected however nothing more was said about Ali going braless and Ashlyn made a mental note to thank Megan personally for that!

 


	14. The Hills

Ali was sat in Starbucks waiting for Ashlyn. She had thought they were meeting at 10am but after re-reading the message she realised she misread it and they wouldn’t be meeting until 10.30am. Ashlyn was always early so Ali knew she wouldn’t be waiting long.

 

She got a coffee and waited sitting on a stool with her legs crossed in front of her. She felt someone was staring at her and looked up. Two very attractive women in business suits were looking at her, they smiled and she smiled back and went back to reading her phone. She knew they were still looking at her though. She saw out of the corner of her eye that one of them had got up, she hoped that she wouldn’t come over and talk to her.

 

‘Hey’ Ali suddenly heard, she looked up and one of the women was there.

 

‘Oh hey’ Ali said smiling cutely

 

‘Now that’s a killer smile, my name’s Kate, and you are?’

 

‘I’m Ali’ Ali said shaking hands with Kate

 

‘I couldn’t help but notice you from over there, and I found myself thinking woah I just have to talk to that girl!’ Kate said

 

Ali blushed shyly, she was flattered but wasn’t sure where this was going.

 

Kate was actually very pleasant, so easy to talk to and she and Ali enjoyed a chat. Ali hadn’t noticed Ashlyn had appeared. Ashlyn was looking through the window as she walked over to the door. She didn’t like the look of the woman leaning over Ali.

 

‘Well here’s my card, hope to hear from you’ Kate said winking

 

‘Thanks, well you never know’ Ali said while giving the killer Krieger smile. Kate walked off while Ali continued smiling to herself. Ashlyn was inside now and she had seen Kate giving the business card to Ali.

 

‘Hey’ she said coming over to Ali ‘who was that?’

 

‘Oh just someone’ Ali said very blasé ‘I don’t really know, she just wanted a chat I think’

 

Ashlyn didn’t know why but she felt very uncomfortable. She watched Ali slip the business card into the front pocket of her denim shorts. They were very short and Ashlyn was quite certain that the girl with the business card had come over to get a closer looks at Ali’s very toned, tanned legs.

 

‘We should go’ Ashlyn said ‘Abby and Sarah will be waiting’

 

‘Don’t you want coffee first?’ Ali asked

 

‘No. I just want to go’ Ashlyn replied trying not to sound annoyed. She helped Ali down from the stool and then held out her hand for Ali to take, instead Ali linked her arm with Ashlyn’s and they walked to the door. Ashlyn could see Kate watching Ali go and she got the impression Ali enjoyed being watched by her. She looked round and saw Ali was smiling at Kate, Ashlyn glared at Kate and opened the door for Ali.

 

‘Where are you parked?’ Ali asked now slipping her hand into Ashlyn’s. Ashlyn wanted to say “oh so now you want to hold my hand?” but she held back and just replied that she was parked near by.

 

They went to Sarah’s house to pick up her and Abby. The four of them were going for a walk up in the hills near where they lived. Ali and Sarah had never been up there before and had heard that the view was beautiful. Ashlyn tried desperately hard to appear normal but Abby and Sarah could sense there was an elephant in the room.

 

They went for a long walk up the hill and eventually climbed up onto a pile of rocks at the top of one of the hills. Even though Ashlyn and Ali had held hands the whole way up, everyone knew something wasn’t right. Ashlyn felt tense she wanted to challenge Ali about who that girl was and why she had her business card, but their whole relationship was meant to be built on trust.

 

They had lunch sat up at the top of the rocks, everyone was talking even Ashlyn but her responses seemed shorter than usual and she wasn’t starting any conversations.

 

After lunch Ali eventually challenged Ashlyn ‘Ash are you gonna snap out of this mood? We planned this all four of us and you’re causing an uncomfortable atmosphere’

 

‘Oh and why do you think that is?’ Ashlyn said sarcastically

 

‘I’ve no idea’ Ali replied ‘that’s why I’m asking’

 

‘So seriously you’re gonna make me spell it out for you?’ Ashlyn asked

 

Ali raised her eyebrows expectantly. Ashlyn tapped the business card in Ali’s pocket to tell her that that is what she was referring to but Ali had moved at that moment and Ashlyn’s fingers ended up touching her in between her legs.

 

‘Hey don’t!’ Ali yelled and pushed Ashlyn’s hand away ‘just because you’re my girlfriend doesn’t mean you can just touch me there whenever you want’

 

‘It was an accident, I meant to touch your pocket, the one with the business card in it’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Where is this going Ashlyn?’ Ali asked puzzled

 

‘That girl in Starbucks who gave you her number, that is what this is about. Are you going to call her?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘If I want to’ Ali said defiantly ‘she seemed nice, and you can never have too many friends’

 

‘Don’t be naïve Ali! She didn’t want to be your friend!’ Ashlyn told her

 

‘You don’t know that’ Ali replied

 

‘Yes I do, I saw how she looked at you’ Ashlyn said

 

‘You’re over reacting’ Ali said getting really wound up

 

‘No I’m not. So are you going to call her?’ Ashlyn asked again

 

‘I told you, I will if I want to’ Ali confirmed

 

‘I’m not listening to anymore of this’ Ashlyn said and picked up the bag that had had their lunch in it and started to climb down the rocks.

 

Ali shook her head after Ashlyn ‘sorry about that’ Ali said turning to Abby and Sarah ‘I feel we’ve ruined your day out’

 

‘It’s fine’ Abby said ‘I do think we should go after her though, it’s easy to get lost up here or have an accident, get bitten by a snake etc we need to stick together’

 

Ali and Sarah agreed. Ali hadn’t liked it that Ashlyn had stormed off and was beginning to feel bad for what she had said about maybe calling Kate.

 

‘I wasn’t going to call that girl from Starbucks’ she said to Abby and Sarah

 

‘Glad to hear it’ Abby said ‘I think Ash was probably right Ali that she wasn’t after being just friends’

 

‘I know, I just don’t get why she got so jealous’ Ali said

 

‘You’ve got another girl’s phone number in your pocket Al, that would upset me too’ Abby confirmed ‘turn it around and imagine that Ashlyn had another girl’s phone number in her pocket, it doesn’t look good does it?’

 

‘No’ Ali admitted she took the business card out of her pocket and ripped it up ‘I’d never have called her, and I did nothing to encourage her to come and talk to me’

 

They started to climb down. The rock was very crumbly and steep. Abby had a firm hold of Sarah who had slipped twice already ‘hold on Sarah’ she told her ‘oh unless I slip and then make sure you let go! Ali I think you should wait up here for a minute while I get Sarah down safely and then I’ll come back for you’

 

‘Thanks but I’m fine’ Ali said. She was actually struggling a bit but she just wanted to climb down quickly and catch up with Ashlyn. She didn’t like that she was by herself even though she was a very capable, strong girl and wouldn’t have got far.

 

There suddenly came a sliding and scraping noise from behind Abby and Sarah followed by a loud scream of pain. Ali had fallen and slid down the face of the rock to the ground.....


	15. Ashley

‘Oh my fucking god!’ Abby yelled she quickly picked Sarah up with one arm and risked them both falling as well as she quickly climbed down to Ali. She would put herself in front of Sarah if she fell, fortunately she didn’t though and they were both soon on the ground and able to rush to Ali.

 

Luckily Ashlyn hadn’t got far. She walked off very unhappy trying to work out what had gone wrong, and worrying that Ali would meet up with the girl from Starbucks this evening now that they weren't speaking. She suddenly heard a loud scream and froze _‘that was Ali or Sarah’_ she thought to herself and turned and ran back towards the rocks.

 

Abby heard Ashlyn come panting up behind her just as she had reached Ali. She looked over Abby’s shoulder and saw Ali bleeding badly all down her left side.

 

‘Fuck what happened’ she said accusingly at Abby

 

‘She fell and slid down the side of the rocks’ Abby told her

 

‘Why didn’t you help her?!’ Ashlyn yelled accusingly at Abby ‘I would have helped Sarah if you hadn’t been there, they aren’t as strong as we are’ between them Ashlyn and Abby had now pulled Ali up off the ground and Ashlyn pulled her close to her telling her not to worry as she would look after her.

 

‘I did try to help her!’ Abby said back to Ashlyn ‘she refused my help! Anyway you should have been there to help her’

 

They stopped arguing and turned their attention to Ali. She could move all her fingers and toes so nothing was broken and she didn’t have any markings on her head. Abby and Ashlyn were satisfied that she was just very badly cut and bruised.

 

Ashlyn took her shirt off and started to use it to wipe up some of the blood on Ali, she was annoyed at herself for not packing something in case someone had an accident ‘let’s get her back to the car’ Ashlyn said ‘I’ll have some tissues and wet wipes there’ she lifted Ali up into her arms and kissed her tears telling her not to cry.

 

Abby offered to take Ali for a little while as they were walking, to help Ashlyn but she politely refused, Ali was her girlfriend and she would cripple herself carrying her if she had to. She thanked Abby though and they knew their little fight was over.

 

They got to the car and all set to work trying to wipe Ali’s wounds and clean some of the dirt of the rock face off her. One of her legs was particularly badly cut so Ashlyn had continued to press the shirt against it.

 

‘Will you drive Abby and take Sarah in front with you I want to sit in the back with Ali. Let’s go back to our house’ Ashlyn said

 

Ali was quiet now and breathing funny, she looked quite faint Sarah thought. ‘Listen Ashlyn no offense but if something this bad happened to me I would just want you to take me home’

 

Ali just nodded that yes she wanted to go home and Abby agreed that she would drive them to Ali’s house. Ashlyn would have preferred to take Ali back to their house but she knew really that she was quite out of her depth with these cuts.

 

They reached Ali’s house and unfortunately Andrea was in the front garden. Ashlyn jumped down and went round to Ali’s side she lifted her down, then Andrea noticed them all and came marching up.

 

‘What the fuck has happened to my sister Ashley?’ she demanded

 

‘We were out walking this afternoon and Ali slipped and fell’ Ashlyn told her

 

‘Slipped and fell? Why weren’t you helping her Ashley?’ She said a million times more accusingly than Ashlyn had sounded to Abby. Ashlyn didn’t answer. Andrea took Ali from Ashlyn

 

‘She’s an absolute mess’ Andrea said ‘and what is that wrapped around her leg?’

 

‘My shirt’ Ashlyn said hoping that would give her some credit with Andrea that she had used her shirt to try and help Ali.

 

‘You’ve wrapped your filthy shirt around my sister’s leg?’ She asked looking at Ashlyn in disgust

 

‘It wasn’t filthy it was clean on’ Ashlyn told her hating how small Andrea was making her feel.

 

‘I suppose it didn’t occur to you to take something with you in case someone had an accident Ashley?’ Andrea said sarcastically. Ashlyn again didn’t answer

 

Abby had climbed down now ‘I think you need to calm down, AshLYN not AshLEY tried to stop her bleeding and carried her a long way’

 

‘I don’t care what Ashley did’ Andrea told Abby ignoring the name correction she looked up towards the car and frowned slightly ‘Is that little Sarah Huffman in the car with you two idiots?’ she asked

 

‘Yes’ Abby replied, not appreciating being called an idiot, but although taller than Ali, Andrea was a femme and Abby didn’t get into fights with femmes either physically or with words if she could help it.

 

‘Are you ok with these two Sarah? Andrea asked concerned ‘do you want to get out and stay here and I’ll take you home after we’ve seen to Ali?’

 

‘No thanks, I’m fine honestly’ Sarah said climbing down from the car she patted Ali and told her she would call her later, as Andrea helped her into the house and then the front door was shut. They heard Ali’s mom exclaim in shock as she saw Ali.

 

‘I think we’ll just go’ Sarah said ‘come on Ashlyn.’

 

‘Lovely sister’ Abby said sarcastically when they were back in the car ‘is she always like that with you Ash?’

 

‘I’ve only met her a few times’ Ashlyn said ‘but yeah she's always been very rude to me’

 

‘She’s really nice to me’ Sarah said ‘I’ve never seen her act like that before’

 

‘Well you’re best friends with her little sister, and you’re a nice, sweet, harmless girl, Ashlyn is totally the opposite’

 

‘I’m nice!’ Ashlyn replied

 

‘Yeah…but you’re dating her baby sister. Now I think about it Ash I wouldn’t let you date one of my sisters’ Abby said

 

‘Thanks a lot Abby!’Ashlyn replied

 

‘Well you know what I mean, unfortunately you and I know each others pasts’ Abby said

 

‘I’m not sure I want to hear anything about either of your pasts’ Sarah said looking at them both with mock disgust and Abby grinned.

 

Abby drove again with Sarah next to her and Ashlyn sat in the back. Abby looked in the rear view mirror. Ashlyn looked very troubled ‘are you ok?’ Abby asked her

 

‘Not really’ Ashlyn shrugged ‘I don’t really know what went wrong there, and I feel really bad that Ali got badly hurt because I stormed off. I feel like that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t left’

 

‘I’d have stormed off too’ Abby said

 

‘Me too actually’ Sarah said ‘it would have bothered me when she said she was considering that she might phone someone that was obviously interested in her’

 

‘I don’t get what I did wrong really, all I did was ask about it. I’ll call her in a few hours and see if she’ll let me go over. We need to talk’ Ashlyn said

 

Abby and Sarah both agreed with that.

 

Ashlyn called Ali a few hours later like she had said, and was relieved when Ali answered. She didn’t sound mad at all and was feeling a lot better now that she was all cleaned up and had had a little snooze. She was happy for Ashlyn to come straight over and talk.

 

‘Has Andrea gone home?' Ashlyn asked

 

‘Yes, she went about an hour ago’ Ali confirmed

 

Is your mom in?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Yeah she's stayed at home this evening in case I need anything’ Ali replied

 

‘Is she annoyed with me?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘NO!’ Ali exclaimed ‘I think she’ll tell you how grateful she is that you took care of me’

 

‘Ok, just wanted to make sure’ Ashlyn replied and set off to see Ali.

 

Ali’s mom opened the door and as Ali had predicted she thanked Ashlyn for carrying her and for taking good care of her. She sent Ashlyn upstairs to see Ali.

 

Ali was lying in bed just staring at the ceiling when Ashlyn knocked.

 

‘Come in’ Ali said hoping it would be Ashlyn

 

‘Hey it’s me’ Ashlyn said peering round the door and thinking how cute Ali looked in her pyjamas.

 

Ali smiled when she saw her, Ashlyn smiled back and came into the room. She leaned against the door, a little unsure what to do next.

 

‘Come’ Ali said and held out her arms. Ashlyn went to Ali, she sat on the bed and wrapped her arms around Ali. They held each other for a little while

 

‘Are you in a lot of pain?’ Ashlyn whispered gently stroking Ali’s bandaged arm

 

‘No I’m ok now, it hurt a lot at the time but I’m just a little sore now and I can’t lie on my left side’ Ali replied

 

‘I’m really sorry that you got hurt, I didn’t mean for that. Abby did try to help you didn’t she?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Yes of course. She wanted me to wait until she had got Sarah down safely, but we were all worried about you being by yourself. I’d hate it if something happened to you’ Ali said

 

Ashlyn felt herself blush a bit ‘thanks’ she said quietly ‘I’d be fine though. I don’t really get what happened today’

 

‘I just got angry that you didn’t trust me, I mean of course I was never going to phone her, I just didn’t like that you asked me if I would’

 

‘I got very jealous and over reacted, but Ali it was weird that you wouldn’t hold my hand in front of her and when I turned around you were smiling at her’

 

‘I didn’t want to hurt her, nothing more than that. I care about people, even people I don’t know and I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings by being cold when they are attracted to me. She didn’t need to know that I have a girlfriend’

 

‘Oh, I get that’ Ashlyn said thinking how sweet Ali was ‘I hope we don’t ever have another misunderstanding like that’

 


	16. The Promised Land

After Ali’s injuries had cleared up, a weekend two weeks later the four were at the beach.

 

Ali and Ashyn were in the sea and Abby took the opportunity to speak to Sarah alone.

 

‘Sooo’ Abby said pulling Sarah’s sunbed closer to hers so that their legs were touching ‘I’ve been thinking and wondering if you might be ready for that date yet?’ Abby asked taking the plunge

 

Sarah looked awkward and went quiet for a few moments. She stared at the ground and eventually replied ‘Don’t you like things how they are?’

 

‘Well of course I do’ Abby said not wanting Sarah to think something was wrong

 

‘Good I’m glad cos I do too’ Sarah said and hugged Abby yet again somehow managing to twist the conversation and shoot Abby down in flames very innocently.

 

Abby sighed to herself but let it go.

 

Ali and Ashlyn were walking back up from the sea, as they got closer to Abby and Sarah they could hear they were playfully arguing.

 

‘I’m way faster!’ Ali told Ashlyn

 

‘No I am!’ Ashlyn replied

 

‘I don’t think you are, you’ve got too much muscle to be able to run fast’ Ali told Ashlyn

 

‘You won’t beat me!’ Ashlyn said shaking her head

 

‘Put your money where your mouth is, I know I will’ Ali replied

 

Abby laughed ‘I think she may be right Ash, as a goalkeeper you aren’t having the same training as us, I think Ali might win a race between you two’

 

Ashlyn grinned and shook her head ‘nope I don’t believe she will win’

 

‘Well I am so sure that I will win, that if I don’t I’ll show you my boobies!’ Ali said grinning

 

‘I’m definitely not losing now!’ Ashlyn said ‘you mean that you’ll show only me though don’t you?’

 

‘Aww are you getting all possessive Ashlyn?’ Sarah said

 

‘Yes’ Ashlyn said shyly, she didn’t really want anyone else to see Ali’s body but her.

 

‘Right down to the beach we go then’ Abby said and they all got up ‘ok basic rules – no pushing each other, in fact no contact at all and whoever reaches that drift wood over there wins, are you gonna go and stand by it Sarah?’

 

‘Yep I’ll be the judge’ Sarah said and wandered down the beach to where the drift wood was.

 

Ali and Ashlyn got in place, they were taunting each other and making faces.

 

‘Ok here we go….three, two, one – go!’ Abby yelled and both girls set off.

 

Much to Ali’s surprise Ashlyn was much faster than she had appreciated. She led the whole way and Ali hoped that she would get tired before they reached the finish line but she didn’t and Sarah declared Ashlyn the winner.

 

Ashlyn’s victory dance was quite a sight followed by a loud ‘show me the promised land!!!’ shouted in Ali’s face.

 

Ali was staring at the ground with a shy smirk on her face. Abby reached them both.

 

‘So you’re faster than we gave you credit for Ash! I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes Ali’ Abby laughed

 

‘Well she won fair and square’ Ali grinned. She held out her hand to Ashlyn ‘we’ll go behind those trees over there and you can see the “promised land” as I said’

 

‘You don’t have to Ali’ Sarah said protectively of her friend ‘she won’t mind if you don’t want to do it’

 

‘It’s fine’ Ali grinned at Sarah, she was ready for this

 

Ashlyn took Ali’s hand with a smirk on her face. Abby nudged her as she walked past her and whispered ‘hey, don’t push her into anything she doesn’t want will you? If she can’t go through with it don’t make a big deal of it’

 

‘Of course not’ Ashlyn replied ‘don’t worry’

 

Ali led Ashlyn behind the trees where they were alone. Ashlyn took Ali in her arms facing her they made out a little bit and then Ashlyn pulled back and said ‘you don’t have to do this, I know it was just a bet for fun, I’m not expecting anything at all’

 

‘I’m comfortable’ Ali told her surprisingly smiling up at her ‘you’ve been so patient you deserve some kind of treat’

 

_‘Fuck she's so sexy I can’t possibly be about to see her breasts’_ Ashlyn thought as she looked Ali in the eyes, she could see that actually Ali was perfectly comfortable. If Ashlyn in any way sensed that she wasn’t then as much as she wanted to see Ali’s body she would have stopped her.

 

‘So undo me’ she said and Ashlyn reached round to unhook Ali’s top. Ali hesitated ‘they’re only small’ she said to Ashlyn giving her the puppy eyes look

 

‘Oh don’t think like that, all breasts are beautiful’ Ashlyn told her

 

Ali bit the bullet and slowly pulled her top off.

 

‘Wow’ was all Ashlyn could say ‘you are too beautiful’. She pulled Ali into a hug and kissed her passionately then pulled back and looked down again. Her hands were roaming all over Ali’s bare top half, every where but on her breasts ‘can I?’ she asked and Ali nodded

 

Ashlyn softly cupped Ali’s breasts she stroked and gently squeezed them giving Ali hard nipples ‘mmmm’ she moaned ‘feels good’ Ashlyn made out with Ali again then pulled back

 

‘Ok I think I need a cold shower now’ Ashlyn said her mind all of a whirl. Ali quickly put her top back on again, slipped her hand into Ashlyn’s and they walked out to meet the other two again.

 

Sarah and Abby could see straight away from Ashlyn’s facial expression that Ali had gone ahead with it. Ali was grinning very proudly, pleased at the affect she’d had on Ashlyn.

 

‘Is that a wet patch on your shorts Ashlyn?’ Abby asked and Ashlyn looked down

 

‘Haha you’ll fall for anything Ashlyn’ she laughed

 

‘I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if I did have a wet patch’ Ashlyn said still looking very distracted ‘these boardies are gonna have to go straight in the bin I think’

 

Ali giggled she slipped her hand in Ashlyn’s and they went back to the changing rooms where Ashlyn could have a cold shower.


	17. Frankfurt Beckons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter this time....

First thing on Monday morning Ashlyn was called into the coach’s office. She was a little surprised by that. She didn’t think she had done anything wrong, and didn’t really think she had done anything particularly outstanding either.

 

She raised her eyebrows and shrugged at Ali, Abby and Sarah then went off to the coach’s office.

 

‘What do you think that’s about?’ Ali asked the other two.

 

‘No idea’ Abby replied ‘I don’t think she’s done anything she shouldn’t, but who knows?’

 

‘Sit down Ashlyn’ the coach said as she walked into the office. She was surprised to see two other people that she didn’t know ‘this is Ida and Verena they’re scouts from Frankfurt FC’

 

Ashlyn stood up again to shake hands with both the scouts, she felt puzzled and knew her face was showing that.

 

‘You’ll remember Ashlyn that every year someone is chosen to go to Germany to experience a different style of playing, and we really think this would help to develop your game’ the coach explained

 

‘Oh’ Ashlyn said not sounding as pleased as they hoped she would ‘Er how long would it be for?’ She asked

 

‘It is a 6 month rolling contract, at the end of each month you get to choose to come home, yet we are only interested in signing someone that believes upfront that they would like to do the full 6 months’ Ida explained.

 

Ashlyn went a bit quiet.

 

‘I can see this has come as a bit of a shock to you Ashlyn do you want today to think about it?’ the coach asked her

 

‘Yes please’ Ashlyn said and they dismissed her from the room.

 

Ashlyn went and sat on her own for a while before heading back out to join the others again. She quickly removed the puzzled look on her face and fobbed the others off that she was just having some kind of performance review. Sarah and Ali accepted this but Abby knew Ashlyn better, she could see that something had happened.

 

Later that night at home when they were finally alone Abby approached Ashlyn about what had happened.

 

‘So’ Abby began ‘what exactly was that about earlier?’

 

‘Remember last year when Megan went to Germany to play for 6 months?’ Ashlyn replied

 

‘Yesss’ Abby said guessing what was coming

 

‘Well this year they’ve asked me’ Ashlyn told her

 

‘Oh my god’ Abby said not liking the idea of not having Ashlyn around for 6 months, and then of course there was Ali. ‘Did you say yes?’

 

‘No I didn’t yet’ Ashlyn said

 

‘What about Ali?’ Abby asked

 

‘Exactly’ Ashlyn said ‘would you go if they asked you?’

 

Abby considered for a minute ‘no’ she eventually said ‘I think trying to make things work with Sarah is more important to me than playing in Europe for 6 months. A lot could change in 6 months’

 

‘That’s how I feel too’ Ashlyn confirmed ‘they asked me to think about it but I knew the second they said it that I wouldn’t be able to leave Ali. I can’t risk losing her, and the idea of being apart from her is not something I can cope with. Do you think I’m being silly to turn it down?’

 

‘No, not at all. Like I said, I couldn’t do it at the moment either’ Abby confirmed

 

The next day Ashlyn thanked the scouts but declined the offer on personal reasons. She decided not to tell Ali in case she felt guilty that Ashlyn hadn’t gone. Things were good and Ashlyn didn't want to put a spanner in the works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure you'll forgive me for the next chapter....


	18. "That Chapter"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who guessed right?!

‘Hey’ Ashlyn said standing up to greet Ali as she arrived to meet her at the park bench as they had agreed. Ali was wearing little denim shorts and a black vest top. One of the outfits Ashlyn liked best on her, she looked so cute. She felt so proud to call Ali hers. She went to kiss her but Ali turned her head so the kiss ended up on her cheek, and her hug felt very weak, her arms barely went around Ashlyn.

 

Ashlyn felt a bit anxious as she pulled away from Ali ‘everything ok?’ she asked as she slipped her hand into Ali’s.

 

‘I need to talk to you actually, I have some news’ Ali replied and sat down on the bench taking her hand out of Ashlyn’s.

 

_‘Ok now I’m worried, this doesn’t sound good and she’s never taken her hand out of mine before’_ Ashlyn thought to herself. She tried not to look worried but she knew her face wasn’t hiding how she felt.

 

‘Shoot’ Ashlyn said encouraging Ali to talk

 

‘Well you know each year someone gets chosen to go to Germany?’ Ali began

 

_‘Oh fuck she’s found out about it! I should have just told her, still hopefully she’ll find it romantic that I stayed for us’_ Ashlyn convinced herself. She opened her mouth to tell Ali that, but Ali continued

 

‘No, please let me carry on Ash’ she said ‘well this year they’ve asked me to go’

 

Ashlyn’s face fell. She thought Ali had been about to question her about why she hadn’t told her that they’d asked her to go, not that she was about to tell her that she was going! Not one week ago Ashlyn had turned this down for the sake of their relationship and it hadn’t even occurred to her that they would then ask Ali. She desperately wanted Ali to tell her that she had declined but she didn’t have a good feeling about it.

 

‘I’ve decided to accept’ Ali confirmed and Ashlyn’s heart sank into the pit of her stomach. ‘It lasts up to 6 months, at the end of each month you get to choose if you want to renew another month, but I fully intend to grab the opportunity with both hands and stay the 6 months’.

 

Ashlyn knew now that this was a test, a horrible test life was throwing at her and she didn’t know how she’d cope being apart form Ali but she had to be positive ‘well don’t worry Ali, I’ll just have to raise the funds so I can come and see you. We’ll never go longer than 2 months without seeing each other as I’ll come for a week after 2 months, then another week after 4 months and then at the 6th month you’ll come home. I’ll have to sell my jeep perhaps’ she couldn’t think of any other way to raise the money for the air fare.

 

‘Oh god Ashlyn don’t do that’ Ali had heard Abby telling Sarah one time how Ashlyn had saved for years to buy it and it was her absolute pride and joy ‘I really don’t want you to do that’

 

‘It’s fine’ Ashlyn replied ‘if that’s what needs to be done so we can see each other then so be it, you are more important than any car’ she said giving Ali her puppy eye shy smile.

 

Ali didn’t return the smile though, she just looked away and stared at the ground.

 

‘Seriously Ali please don’t worry’ Ashlyn reassured her ‘we’ll get through this’

 

‘I’m not sure that we should try’ Ali said eventually

 

‘What?’ Ashlyn said hoping that she had misheard

 

‘I think that we should call it off’ Ali said ‘it seems silly keeping it going when I’m going to be so far way for so long’

 

NO Ali!’ Ashlyn said firmly ‘we don’t need to break up honestly I’ll find a way to get to you, and we can Skype every day and whatsapp whenever we want, 6 months will soon pass you’ll see’

 

‘What if you meet someone else?’ Ali asked

 

‘I won’t! I’m all yours I promise you, no one could compare to you’ Ashlyn said getting very anxious.

 

‘What if I meet someone else?’ Ali asked

 

Ashlyn’s heart sank into her boots hearing that, it had never occurred to her that Ali would want to meet someone else. ‘Well why would you want to?’ Ashlyn asked ‘don’t…don’t you feel for me how I feel for you?’

 

‘I just don’t want to keep this going, I want to take this opportunity and not have any baggage at home. I don’t know who I’ll meet there and I just don’t want to be having to focus on something here, I want all my focus to be on there. I’m sorry Ashlyn’

 

There came silence and Ashlyn stood up. She turned away from Ali her mind in a mess she honestly didn’t know what was going to come out of her, she felt she had lost control. She didn’t know if she was going to scream at Ali, punch something, or throw up. What actually came out surprised both of them.

 

Ali suddenly heard what sounded like a sob, she stared up at Ashlyn in horror and before either of them knew what had happened Ashlyn had burst into tears. She honestly couldn’t stop it, Ali meant so much to her and to hear that Ali felt differently had come as a tremendous shock. Not only would she not see Ali anymore she had to accept that Ali didn’t feel for her.

 

Ali stood up ‘oh Ash please don’t’ she said

 

‘I love you’ Ashlyn told her. It was the first time she’d said it out loud. She’d loved the beautiful brunette since the second she first lay eyes on her but somehow had been scared to say it in case Ali didn’t say it back ‘and I don’t want you to go’ she added.

 

‘I don’t want you to cry’ Ali eventually said

 

‘Then don’t break up with me’ Ashlyn sobbed out ‘please can we just try?’ Ali didn’t reply which Ashlyn knew meant no.

 

They didn’t realise how dark it had got around them. They saw a bright flash and suddenly heard a loud crash of thunder above them and the heavens opened. Ashlyn stared up at the sky in disbelief, could this evening get any worse. She looked at Ali’s bare arms and untied the red hoodie she had tied around her waist. She wrapped it around Ali. Ali pulled away.

 

‘Don’t please’ she said crying a little bit herself now ‘I don’t deserve it’

 

Ashlyn insisted though ‘come on I’ll walk you home’ she said to Ali through sobs. In a way it was a good thing it was raining heavily it would mean people wouldn’t notice that she was crying.

 

‘Please don’t Ashlyn, you don’t have to walk me home anymore’ Ali told her

 

‘Yes I do, even if you’ve dumped me we’re still officially on a date, and I look after my dates’ Ashlyn replied not looking Ali in the eye.

 

She set off walking and Ali walked with her, a step or two behind. They walked in silence, Ashlyn checking behind her frequently to make sure that Ali was still behind her and ok. They reached Ali’s gate. Usually Ashlyn would take Ali right to the door but understandably she didn’t want to this evening. She just waited at the gate in silence. Fortunately it was quite well sheltered there. Ali looked at Ashlyn ‘I’m really sorry Ashlyn’ Ali said, but Ashlyn wouldn’t reply or look at her.

 

Ashlyn waited until Ali reached the door. Ali turned round to look at Ashlyn, their eyes met for a few seconds and then Ashlyn turned and walked away.

 

As soon as she was out of sight of Ali she broke down and cried her eyes out. She wanted to go home but Abby and Sarah would be there. Eventually she realised she would have to go home, she would be ill if she sat out in the wet any longer.

 

Abby and Sarah were looking very cosy on the sofa when Ashlyn suddenly walked in.

 

‘Oh hey Ash, we weren’t expecting you for a while’ Abby said to her then saw how soaking wet she was ‘couldn’t you and Ali think of somewhere dry to go?’ she said questioning Ashlyn’s appearance and surprised to see her home so early alone.

 

Ashlyn tried to speak but again all that came out was a sob ‘oh my god Ashlyn?!’ Abby said leaping up. She had known Ashlyn for a long time but had never seen her cry. Sarah had leapt up with Abby equally as horrified.

 

‘What on earth has happened’ they anxiously asked ‘is Ali ok?’ They both suddenly felt worried something had happened to Ali

 

Ashlyn managed to nod then finally sobbed out ‘she’s going to Germany and she’s finished with me’

 

Abby looked at Sarah ‘did you know about this?’ she asked not accusingly but trying to work out why on earth Ali would finish with Ashlyn.

 

‘I knew she was considering whether or not to go, it wasn’t my place to tell either of you of course, but she didn’t mention that she was considering that you two should break up’ Sarah said

 

‘Sarah do you mind if I take you home’ Abby asked ‘I need to be with Ashlyn’

 

Sarah completely agreed plus she wanted to go to Ali and find out exactly what happened. ‘Ashlyn sit tight, I’ll just drop Sarah home and I’ll be straight back’

 

Ashlyn did as she was told while Abby and Sarah dashed out to the car ‘take me to Ali’s Abby please’ she asked and Abby nodded

 

‘Try to find out what’s going on Sarah, she can’t possibly want to break up with Ashlyn really’ Abby said still in disbelief.

 

They were soon at Ali’s and Sarah jumped out, Abby watched her go in to make sure Ali was there, and waited for a thumbs up to say that Ali was happy for her to stay.

 

As soon as she got it Abby dashed home to be with Ashlyn.

 

Sarah spent a good hour pleading with Ali not to finish with Ashlyn but her mind seemed up.

 

‘Don’t you love her Ali?’ I completely love Abby, I haven’t told her, and we’re not officially together but I completely do and I know she loves me’ Sarah said

 

‘Yes I do, and actually tonight she told me that she loves me’ Ali said

 

‘That’s heart breaking Ali, poor Ashlyn’ Sarah told her

 

‘I know but I just want a clean slate, I’m sorry but my mind is made up’ Ali said

 

‘You’re so good together, really Ali there’s no one as good as Ashlyn out there’ Sarah said

 

‘Yes I know, but maybe we’ll pick up where we left off in 6 months’ Ali said shrugging

 

‘You can’t rely on that Ali! Ashlyn is hot and in demand, I don’t like thinking about it but Ashlyn and Abby were known as real players before we came along, when word is out that Ashlyn is single again she is going to be crawling in pussy’ Sarah said trying to get through to Ali.

 

‘Then perhaps it just isn’t meant to be’ Ali said sounding a bit annoyed. ‘Listen Sarah I don’t want to offend you but would you mind if I asked my sister to take you home now I just want to be alone’

 

Sarah reluctantly agreed. She left Ali’s with her sister and was soon home. She messaged Abby

 

Sarah: “I couldn’t get anything out of her at all, but sadly it does seem her mind is made up x”

 

Abby: “Damn, I really hoped it would be something that we could resolve this evening. Ash has been very sick, due to shock and crying so much I think, I’m worried about her, I’ve never seen her cry x’’

 

Sarah: “God poor Ash, you’ll sit with her all night won’t you if she needs it? x”

 

Abby: “Yeah of course, I’m hoping she’ll exhaust herself and fall asleep in the next hour” x

 

Sarah: “Please let me know if I can do anything x”

 

Abby: “I will do, and also let me know if you hear anything else from Ali. Listen Sarah, I’m sorry to ask this and I know we aren’t officially together but are you thinking of shutting me out of your life as well? This has just come so out of the blue I’m worried about us now x”

 

Sarah: “Fuck NO!! No way, it has surprised me too, but I don’t want it to come between us, please don’t let it x”

 

Abby: “I won’t ;) just making sure. Anyway I must get back to Ash x”

 

Abby had a very bad night with Ashlyn, she just would not stop crying fortunately she had stopped being sick though and Abby put it down to shock. In the end she had taken Ashlyn to bed with her, this was something that ordinarily they would never do. They were very much about showing their affection for each other with a clap on the back or a punch on the arm. She felt glad though that she could hold Ashlyn and have it feel ok to do so.

 

Sarah walked over to Abby’s in the morning to see how things had gone and to go to training with her and Ashlyn.

 

Abby came to the door seeing Sarah walking up the driveway ‘hey’ she said and kissed her

 

‘How’s Ashlyn?’ Sarah asked

 

‘Really bad, she slept badly and as I said she’s been very sick. She's just lying in bed sobbing’ Abby confirmed

 

‘Fucking poor Ash’ Sarah said shaking her head and feeling so sorry for her ‘I can’t believe Ali has done this, I’m sure she loves her’

 

‘Well it seems she doesn’t’ Abby said ‘anyway there’s no way Ash will come to training today, I’ll tell our coach that she’s sick. I’ll just go and check on her and then I’ll be ready to go’

 

Abby went in to see Ashlyn she was face down in the pillow still gently sobbing. Abby couldn’t get any reply out of her, she left telling her that she’d be back at lunchtime to check on her and that she could phone anytime if she needed to.

 

When Abby and Sarah were alone in the car Abby decided she better tell her that she had shared a bed with Ashlyn, she didn’t want them having any secrets.

 

‘Erm Sarah I slept with Ashlyn last night’ Abby said

 

‘You what?!’ Sarah asked in surprise. She understood that Ashlyn was upset but that was no excuse for her and Abby to end up having sex, plus they were clearly not attracted to each other at all.

 

‘Oh god I mean we shared a bed! Not that we had sex’ Abby quickly confirmed.

 

‘Jesus Abby choose your words more carefully I nearly had a heart attack then’ Sarah said her hand on her heart

 

‘I just mean she slept in my bed and I held her, I wanted to help her sleep, I don’t think it really worked though’ Abby said reluctantly

 

They arrived at training. Ali was there anxiously waiting for them to arrive, she was nervous about seeing Ashlyn, and surprised to see Ashlyn wasn’t with them ‘Is Ash not with you’ she asked.

 

‘No’ Abby said firmly ‘she's been very sick and is totally heart broken’ Abby wasn’t going to hold back she wanted Ali to know that her best friend was devastated

 

‘I didn’t mean to hurt her’ Ali said ‘I just didn’t see any sense in us staying together while I’m away’

 

Abby unfortunately lost her temper a bit she tried to stay calm but she wanted Ali to know that she had broken Ashlyn’s heart and that it wasn’t ok with her for someone to do that to her best friend ‘you know Ali she was asked a week ago if she wanted to go to Germany and she turned it down because she couldn’t face being apart from you. It’s come as a horrible shock that just a week later the very thing that she gave up to be with you, you jumped at without giving her feelings any consideration’.

 

Ali was shocked to hear that Ashlyn had given the opportunity up for her. She said nothing thinking that was best and walked away.

 

Abby apologised to Ali later for being so aggressive with her, and explained that she was just upset because she’d never seen Ashlyn so sad before, and Ashlyn had had a crap life and she really wanted things to work out for her.

 

The next day Ali boarded her flight and left for Germany.

 


	19. The next few weeks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps you'll forgive me now that I've made a quick update!

Abby was glad they had a week off. It was going to take at least a week to get Ashlyn functioning again. She hadn’t got out of bed for 3 days, when she finally did on Tuesday morning Abby was cuddling Sarah in the kitchen. She suddenly noticed Ashlyn over Sarah’s shoulder.

 

She quickly pulled away from Sarah ‘oh god Ash sorry didn’t see you there’

 

‘It’s fine’ Ashlyn said trying to smile though Abby saw the sad look in her eyes watching them being affectionate together while she had lost everything.

 

‘It’s good to see you again Ash’ Sarah said. She hadn’t seen Ashlyn since the day Ali had split with her.

 

‘Thanks’ She said quietly and sat down on the sofa.

 

‘Want something to eat’ Abby asked keenly hoping Ashlyn would eat

 

‘No thanks’

 

‘Some coffee?’

 

‘Ok, thanks’ Ashlyn said and Abby quickly poured her some

 

‘Sure you don’t want something to eat with that, just a little something?’ Abby asked

 

Ashlyn shook her head and took a sip of coffee.

 

‘I brought these cookies over’ Sarah told her and took the box to Ashlyn ‘I made them myself’ she said quite pleadingly unintentionally giving Ashlyn her best puppy eyes look. Abby was glad Sarah had done that as she knew that Ashlyn wouldn't refuse now that she knew Sarah had made them herself.

 

Ashlyn indeed couldn’t resist that look, though it reminded her of Ali again. Ali would give her that look any time she wanted her to do something too.

 

Ashlyn took a bite ‘it’s really good’ she said approvingly and was surprised how well the cookie went down. Abby was very pleased that Sarah had managed to get Ashlyn to eat something.

 

‘Well I’m gonna make a move for now’ Sarah said pointedly at Abby, letting her know she was giving her space to talk to Ashlyn.

 

‘How are you feeling’ Abby asked as she came and sat down next to Ashlyn

 

Ashlyn shrugged ‘I miss her and I feel like a fool’

 

‘You aren’t a fool why would you feel like that?’ Abby asked

 

‘It’s the first time I’ve invested myself into someone like that and I was all in, and I thought she was too when the whole time she wasn’t’ Ashlyn said getting tearful again

 

‘I think she is, something here just isn’t sitting right with me’ Abby replied

 

‘She isn’t Abby and it’s silly to convince myself otherwise’. Ashlyn picked up her phone and went to Ali’s contact she pressed delete and a message came up confirming if she wanted to delete “Ali”.

 

‘Ash don’t, you’ll regret that I think if you delete her’ though Abby appreciated that Ashlyn had the number memorised so she would know if Ali contacted her or if she really wanted to contact her she could.

 

‘I don’t want her contact or any of her photos on my phone anymore, that is all over now. She's gone and she wasn’t interested anyway’ Ashlyn said

 

There came a long silence and Ashlyn hit confirm to delete Ali from her phone. She threw it down on the table.

 

Abby didn’t really know what else to say, she rubbed Ashlyn’s shoulder then stood up and walked away ‘let me know if you want anything or want to talk ok?’ Abby said

 

Ashlyn just nodded.

  

A week later things weren’t much better for Ashlyn she was up again but not going out unless for training. Abby and Sarah felt so sorry for her. She hadn’t smiled or laughed about anything and had become very distant.

 

‘Will you try Sarah by yourself to get her out of the house?’ Abby asked ‘she says no to me easily but I think she’d find it hard to say no to you’

 

‘I’ll definitely try’ Sarah said ‘my mom wanted me to get some things for her this evening, I was going to ask you to take me but shall I ask her instead?’

 

‘Yes do that, and of course if she says no then let me know and I’ll take you’ Abby said

 

Abby left early from training leaving Ashlyn and Sarah alone.

 

‘Abby’s had to go’ Sarah said to Ashlyn going into the locker room where Ashlyn was changing her shoes.

 

‘Oh right’ Ashlyn said not sounding too interested

 

‘Mom’s asked me to pick up some shopping for her’ Sarah said hoping Ashlyn would take the bait and say she’d go with her but she didn’t she just nodded, though Sarah did see her hesitate. She knew Ashlyn wouldn’t really like Sarah to be walking around by herself as it was just starting to get dark. ‘Some of the stuff she wants me to get is quite heavy….’ Sarah started again hoping Ashlyn would take the bait.

 

‘Oh, well do you want me to carry it for you?’ Ashlyn offered ‘I don’t have my car with me unfortunately, I don’t know why Abby didn’t say to me this morning that she’d have to leave early’

 

Ashlyn fortunately didn’t realise she was being set up.

 

‘Yes please, if you don’t mind’ Sarah said

 

‘Not at all’ Ashlyn said

 

They walked to the supermarket near Sarah’s house mostly in silence. It wasn’t the best of areas and a gang of teenagers were hanging around a wall nearby.

 

‘Shall we cross over the road?’ Sarah asked Ashlyn ‘I would if I was by myself’

 

‘No it’s fine, when you’re with me you don’t have to be scared of anyone’ Ashlyn told her. She put her arm around Sarah and walked with confidence past the gang who said nothing and moved out of their way. Sarah loved how Ashlyn could take control of a situation like that and she thought that it felt nice having Ashlyn’s arm around her, she couldn’t contemplate at all why Ali would let her go.

 

Even after they were well past the teenage gang Ashlyn kept her arm around Sarah. Sarah liked how it felt to be there and Ashlyn liked having someone there again. She kept her arm around Sarah right up to when she took a trolley at the supermarket.

 

Sarah took the list of things from her pocket that she needed and they began to wander around the store.

 

‘I need some shampoo now I think about it. Come and meet me there when you’ve finished looking at the toothpaste’ Ashlyn said leaving Sarah in the toothpaste area

 

Ashlyn wandered back to the shampoos and was stood in front of them trying to decide which one she wanted.

 

Someone nudged her from behind she turned expecting an apology but none came all she heard was a snigger.

She realised it came from Ali’s sister Andrea who was with a group of her friends.

 

‘That’s Ashley, that used to date Ali’ Andrea said to her friends with a smirk on her face

 

‘Little Ali is dating??!’ one of Andrea’s friends asked

 

‘Yep’ Andrea confirmed ‘well at least she was, Ali saw sense and dumped her’. Ashlyn heard a load of giggles from Andrea’s friends.

 

_‘This is the last thing I need, like I don’t feel bad enough already she now has to tell people that Ali dumped me’_ Ashlyn thought to herself and she decided to act like she hadn’t heard Andrea.

 

‘Wow I just can’t believe Ali is dating, I remember her being born, it feels like yesterday’ Andrea’s friend said ‘mind you Ali has grown up absolutely gorgeous’

 

_‘Tell me about it’_ Ashlyn thought to herself

 

‘Well she's away in Germany now, we speak most days and you can be sure Ali’s getting it on with someone there’ Andrea said

 

Ashlyn looked at Andrea then with her mouth wide open, was she saying that Ali was dating someone else already? She grabbed the nearest bottle of blonde shampoo to her and was about to walk off when she saw Sarah coming towards her.

 

‘I’ve seen the photos, some of the girls there are fucking hot they wipe the floor with boring plain Ashley’ Andrea said

 

Sarah appeared in front of Andrea with her trolley then. She heard what Andrea had said ‘Who’s Ashley?’ Sarah asked Andrea and Ashlyn noticed that Andrea looked embarrassed - she hadn't realised Sarah was there too. Sarah was a long term family friend of the Krieger's so it was not a good look seeing Andrea being rude to one of her friends.

 

‘Leave it Sarah it’s okay’ Ashlyn said ‘let’s go’

 

‘Are you coming to my mom’s barbecue on Saturday with your mom Sarah’? Andrea asked clearly trying to make amends with Sarah for what she’d over heard.

 

‘Yeah we’ll be there’ Sarah said but quite coldly ‘I’ll see you there Andrea, come on Ashlyn’

 

They walked off to a different aisle ‘Are you ok?’ Sarah asked. Ashlyn’s bottom lip wobbled which really bothered Sarah. She nodded though that she was ok ‘come on, I have everything I need’ Sarah said linking her arm with Ashlyn’s and they took the trolley to the tills.

 

Sarah called Abby to tell her about the unfortunate incident and how she expected it would be even harder now to get Ashlyn out of the house. Abby went to speak to Ashlyn.

 

‘Are you alright Ash, Sarah told me what happened earlier’ Abby said

 

Ashlyn shrugged and silence followed for a while.

 

‘Has she asked about me at all?’ Ashlyn eventually asked not meeting Abby’s eyes.

 

‘I haven’t spoken to her’ Abby said ‘and I haven’t asked Sarah’

 

‘Would you ask Sarah?’ Ashlyn said quietly

 

‘I can Ash but if the answer is no, won’t you be even more hurt?’ Abby asked

 

‘I couldn’t be more hurt’ Ashlyn replied

 

‘Ok I’ll ask her later when I see her again’ Abby confirmed and she stood up patted Ashlyn on the shoulder and went out of the room.


	20. Questions

Abby went out to see Sarah later, they had planned for her to come over but it didn’t seem fair to be at Abby's house being all sweet with each other when Ashlyn was there with a broken heart.

 

‘Sarah’

 

‘Yeah’

 

‘Have you talked to Ali at all?’

 

‘Yes every day’

 

‘How is she?’

 

‘She's good’ Sarah said looking a bit puzzled at Abby

 

‘Does she mention Ashlyn at all?’ Abby asked

 

‘It’s always the first thing she asks me after how she asks how I am. She wants to know how Ashlyn is and I tell her the truth, that I haven’t seen much of her but what I have seen is that she's not doing good at all’

 

‘How does she react when she hears that?’ Abby asked

 

‘She acts guilty and sorry’ Sarah said

 

‘Is she having a good time?’

 

‘Well she says she is but I don’t really know, it does sound like she is’ Sarah said

 

‘Has she mentioned any of the girls there catching her eye?’

 

‘No not at all, do you want me to ask about that?’

 

‘Would you mind?’

 

‘I’ll ask her’ Sarah confirmed.

 

At that moment a Skype request popped up from Ali on Sarah’s phone. She walked out of the room to somewhere more private to talk to Ali

 

‘Hey’ Sarah said smiling

 

‘Hey, how are things?’ Ali asked

 

‘Good, how about there?’

 

Yeah they’re ok, pretty busy, it’s a different pace over here as they don’t just play for a league cup, we have our first round champion’s league match coming up. So erm how’s Ash have you seen her?’ Ali asked

 

‘Actually yes I have, quite a bit these last few days’ Sarah said

 

‘How is she?’

 

‘I don’t know what to tell you Ali’

 

‘The truth’

 

‘Well then she looked ill and hurt and broken’

 

‘Oh’ Ali said looking down and there was an awkward silence

 

‘So what are the girls like there?’ Sarah asked remembering Abby’s request

 

‘They’re a nice bunch’ Ali said half heartedly

 

‘Any cute ones caught your eye?’

 

‘Oh god no!’ Ali exclaimed ‘not at all, I’m really not looking for that’

 

Sarah grinned ‘well a girl’s gotta ask hasn’t she’ she said to Ali

 

‘Yeah of course, but really it isn’t like that’ Ali said very firmly

 

‘I saw your sister earlier when I was shopping with Ashlyn, she was very unkind to her and made her feel like you’d met someone else’ Sarah told Ali

 

‘Oh for fucks sake, she really doesn’t like me dating, she’d hit the roof and come straight here if she thought I was dating anyone, not brag about it to her friends in front of Ashlyn’ Ali said pissed off

 

‘That’s what I thought’ Sarah confirmed

 

The conversation soon ended after that as Ali needed to go to bed, she confirmed to Sarah that she would call again the next day.

 

‘Well?’ Abby asked ‘did you ask her?’

 

‘I did’ Sarah said sitting down again ‘there is definitely no one else, and she is feeling very bad about Ashlyn’

 

A few weeks went past with Abby and Sarah tiptoeing around Ashlyn to make sure they weren’t rubbing her nose in it, Ali guiltily asking after Ashlyn, and Ashlyn moping around miserably.

 

Ali Skyped Sarah one evening as usual

 

‘Heyyyy’ Sarah said smiling

 

‘Hey’ Ali said trying to smile but Sarah could see straight away it was fake

 

‘Are you alright Ali?’ Sarah asked

 

To her dismay Ali suddenly burst into tears……

 

 


	21. Player of the Month

‘Oh my god Ali what is it?’ Sarah asked horrified to see her best friend so upset. They had talked the night before and Ali seemed fine

 

‘I hate it here’ she said with tears still falling

 

‘Oh Ali I thought you were having a great time, what’s changed?’

 

‘Nothing’s changed, I hated it from the second I landed. I miss my mom and my sisters…and America. I just don’t like it here’

 

‘Ali is that it, just that you feel homesick?’

 

Ali nodded and then shook her head

 

‘It’s Ashlyn, I’ve made a terrible mistake’ Ali confirmed ‘I mean does she ask about me at all? Is she with someone else, has she gone back to her old ways?’

 

‘All you ever had to do was ask Ali, and I’ve told you she’s miserable without you. She isn’t dating anyone else, she has barely left the house other than training. I won’t lie to you Ali people have tried’

 

‘I want her back and I want to come home’ Ali told her and she buried her face in an item of red clothing.

 

‘Ali isn’t that Ashlyn’s hoodie?’ Sarah asked

 

Ali nodded ‘yeah she gave it to me that awful night we parted and I’ve slept with it every night. It doesn’t smell of her anymore but it’s still hers’

 

‘Why the hell have you suffered like this?’ Sarah asked her ‘we all thought you’d completely lost interest, Ashlyn thinks you haven’t given her a second thought’

 

‘That couldn’t be further from the truth’ Ali told her

 

‘Well Ali your first month is almost up isn’t it?’

 

‘Yeah but I’ve told everyone I’d do the full 6 months’ Ali said

 

‘So what? It takes great strength to change your mind when you’re unhappy, but you are that strong. Just admit that you are unhappy and come the fuck home’ Sarah said

 

Ali smiled and laughed like Sarah hoped she would ‘ok’ she eventually said ‘I’ll tell my coach tomorrow that I’ve decided not to continue’

 

‘I can’t wait to have you back’ Sarah said thrilled ‘I won’t say anything to Abby and certainly not to Ashlyn, that’s for you to do’

 

‘I hope it’s not too late’ Ali said doubtfully

 

‘It won’t be’ Sarah grinned, she was sure of it.

 

Sarah didn’t mention anything to Ashlyn and didn’t really want to tell Abby either. She was all smiles and struggling to hide it from Abby.

 

‘You’re in a good mood’ Abby said to Sarah

 

Sarah hesitated for a moment then decided to tell Abby

 

‘Please don’t tell Ashlyn but Ali is quitting Germany tomorrow, she confessed to me earlier that she's hated it from the second she got there’ Sarah whispered

 

‘Oh wow’ Abby said then looked thoughtful ‘I’m not sure how Ash is going to feel about that, I think things will get even harder for her if she has to see Ali but can’t be with her’

 

‘Well that leads me onto the next bit…she said that she doesn’t like it there and is homesick, I pressed her a bit and she broke down and confessed she is actually coming back because she wants Ashlyn’

 

‘Oh my god!!!’ Abby exclaimed ‘let’s tell Ashlyn, I don’t want her to suffer another second in pain if Ali is coming back’

 

‘No Abby wait’ Sarah said pulling her back down ‘let Ali actually go ahead and quit and come home, we can’t get Ashlyn’s hopes up in case it doesn’t happen’

 

Abby reluctantly agreed that Sarah was right, she just wanted the next few days to pass quickly. It was hard watching Ashlyn still be so unhappy knowing that Ali was probably coming back to her.

 

Ali meant what she said, she quit the next day stating homesickness and the coach released her immediately, telling Ali that she was by no means the first person that had gone home early.

 

Ashlyn wasn’t feeling well when she woke up the next morning so she didn’t go to training.

 

‘No Ashlyn?’ Sarah asked when Abby arrived to pick her up

 

‘No she isn’t feeling well, I think she’s just exhausted she’s really buried herself in her training to try and help forget about Ali. She’s done a lot of extra practise.’

 

Sarah agreed. The day went on as usual, it was the last day of the month so the player of the month award was given out. The winner got a trophy they could keep, Abby had 10 already but none of the other three had ever won.

 

‘Well unfortunately the recipient of this month’s trophy isn’t with us today’ the coach said ‘but let’s have a round of applause for Ashlyn Harris anyway’ they all clapped and Sarah and Abby were really pleased, this might be just the thing to cheer Ashlyn up.

 

‘Shall I take her award home?’ Abby asked

 

‘Yes please’ the coach said

 

15 minutes later Sarah and Abby were outside the house about to go in with Ashlyn’s trophy ‘can I give it to her?’ Sarah asked excitedly

 

‘Of course you can’ Abby said grinning at how excited Sarah was

 

‘Hey Ash?’ Abby called going into the house, not shouting too loudly in case she was sleeping.

 

‘Yeah?’ came very unenthusiastically from the kitchen, so Sarah and Abby went towards the kitchen. Sarah kept the trophy behind her back.

 

‘Guess who won player of the month!’ Sarah said with a smile

 

‘Abby again?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Nope’ Sarah said still grinning

 

‘You?’ Ashlyn said softening her expression, she would really have liked Sarah to have won it.

 

‘Not me, it was you!’ Sarah said and produced the trophy to give to Ashlyn.

 

‘Oh thanks’ Ashlyn said not even smiling

 

‘Congrats buddy’ Abby said and gave Ashlyn a friendly slap on the back ‘right shower time for me’ she said and walked off leaving Sarah with Ashlyn

 

‘Aren’t you pleased?’ Sarah asked

 

‘Yeah’ Ashlyn said half heartedly. She put the trophy down on the counter and picked up the knife she had been using to butter some toast she had made just before Abby and Sarah got home. That was all she was eating these days just toast and fruit. Her hand somehow slipped and she managed to catapult the toast and the knife onto the floor ‘god I’m fucking useless!!!’ she shouted really annoyed at herself.

 

‘No you’re not!’ Sarah told her coming over to pick up the toast and the knife ‘trust it to land butter side down’ she said with a giggle and inspected it ‘you really don’t want to eat that now Ashlyn, it's covered in dirt, probably Abby dirt’ she said grinning and put it in the bin ‘shall I make you some more? Or perhaps I could make you some pancak….’ Sarah began but didn’t get to finish.

 

Ashlyn suddenly picked up the plate in a rage and smashed it to the floor. Sarah jumped violently and involuntarily put her hands up to her face to protect herself. Ashlyn looked directly at her and she immediately regretted it seeing how frightened the Sarah looked, she was staring at Ashlyn eyes wide open.

 

‘I’m really sorry’ Ashlyn said ‘I shouldn’t have done that with you in the room. Well I really shouldn’t have done that at all’

 

‘It’s ok’ Sarah said

 

Ashlyn apologised again. Sarah took a step to go and get the dustpan and brush to sweep it up ‘no wait!’ Ashlyn said anxiously stopping her while staring down at Sarah’s bare feet ‘there’ll be sharp bits of china everywhere’ she picked Sarah up and carried her through to the hallway so she could put her shoes on.

 

‘I can feel you shaking’ Ashlyn said ‘I wasn’t going to throw it at you honestly, and I didn’t throw it because of anything you said, it was really nice of you to offer to make me something else to eat’

 

‘Honestly it’s fine’ Sarah told her ‘it’s just that when I was a kid that used to happen at home a lot and it really scared me and mom’

 

‘I understand that’ Ashlyn said

 

Sarah put her shoes on and they went back into the kitchen. They began sweeping up the smashed china, when Abby reappeared.

 

‘Did I hear something?’ She asked them both

 

‘Erm I accidentally dropped a plate’ Sarah said lying, she knew it was an expensive set of china and didn’t want Abby having a go at Ashlyn over deliberately breaking it.

 

‘Were you hurt?’ Abby asked concerned coming over to Sarah in her bathrobe, she put her arm around her ‘Why are you shaking?’ she asked surprised

 

‘It was just very loud and sudden and I was worried you’d be annoyed with me’ Sarah said

 

‘Fuck no!’ Abby told her ‘as long as you’re alright that’s all I care about’ she pulled Sarah close to her and kissed her then went back off to the bathroom to finish getting dressed.

 

‘Thanks for covering for me’ Ashlyn said when Abby left the room ‘are you sure you’re ok?’

 

Sarah nodded ‘are you? You don’t normally react in anger’

 

‘I know’ Ashlyn said leaning on the counter and putting her head in her hands ‘It’s just this Ali thing, it’s put a black cloud over absolutely everything. I can’t enjoy anything anymore, even this player of the month thing just doesn’t matter to me. All I want to do is pick up the phone and tell Ali I won it, but she won't care’

 

Sarah nodded that she understood. She left early that evening much to Abby’s disappointment, but Sarah had been really shaken by the plate incident, and she realised now just how badly damaged Ashlyn was and it was hard to have to be keeping a secret that could be about to end all that….

 

Ali meanwhile was sat with the phone in her hand open at Ashlyn’s contact. They hadn’t communicated at all since that night. Ali had wanted to write and say sorry so many times, and she had also wanted to write and say that she had made a terrible mistake since the second she had let Ashlyn go. She wanted to phone her now and ask her to meet her at the airport tomorrow.

 

A message popped up on Ashlyn’s phone, she was over the few weeks where each time a message came she would grab the phone desperately hoping it would be Ali, then smash it down in disappointment when it wasn't. She no longer expected it to be. She picked up her phone expecting it to be Abby, but suddenly noticed the phone code +49. She knew that was Germany, she didn’t dare let herself believe it could be Ali. She knew it would end up being a junk message if she got her hopes up. She opened it cautiously

 

‘Hey x’ it said.

 

‘Who is this?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘It’s me Ali x’

 

Ashlyn read the message in disbelief, a month had passed and she was still as hurt as before but she had accepted it was over. She was unsure what to put. She wrote ‘ok…?’ then deleted it and then wrote ‘ok…?x’ with a kiss. She wasn’t sure whether to put a kiss or not. She wanted Ali to know that she was hurt and pissed off, and that her kisses on messages only went to special girls in her life like Abby, Sarah and formerly Ali.

 

In the end she put the kiss ‘ok…x’

 

‘I’m coming home tomorrow x’

 

‘Why x’

 

A long wait followed and Ashlyn put the phone down and tried to forget about it. Eventually another message came.

 

‘I hate it here, I miss my family, and more importantly I miss you x’

 

‘I don’t know what to say to that x’

 

‘Say that you miss me, you’ll come and pick me up tomorrow, and that we can start again x’

 

Ashlyn couldn’t believe what she was reading ‘are you serious?! x’

 

‘Serious as I’ve ever been in my life. Please Ashlyn, it was all a huge mistake I’m sorry and I miss you I want you back x’

 

‘I’ll be there….. x’ Ashlyn replied

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is the angst over....or are things about to get a whole lot worse?!


	22. I Love You

Ashlyn was nervous as hell. Instead of arriving early like she normally did, she didn’t set off to the airport until after she had seen Ali’s plane had landed. She didn’t want to sit at the airport full of nerves for a minute longer than was possible.

 

She hadn’t written to Ali and Ali hadn’t written to her, a small part of her wondered if Ali would actually be on the plane. It was just her luck that the traffic was terrible, it took an hour for Ashlyn to reach the airport. She hoped that the queue had been long at immigration and the baggage would not have arrived quickly.

 

Ashlyn walked into the terminal and reconfirmed Ali’s suspected plane had definitely landed. She made her way over to the arrivals area when she noticed a brown head sat down next to a luggage trolley that she was certain was Ali.

 

Part of her wanted to run to Ali but she instead decided to give her a wide berth and see what her facial expression was without Ali spotting her.

 

Ashlyn did just that and once she could see Ali’s face she could see it was full of worry. She was used to Ashlyn being very early and always reliable, she was hurt that Ashlyn wasn’t there as she had expected her to come running. Ashlyn couldn’t bear to see Ali like that, she hadn’t intended for this to happen, but couldn’t help but feel that this time round had to be different. Ali had taken her for granted before. She slowly approached her and Ali suddenly became aware of a shadow, she looked up desperately hoping it would be Ashlyn

 

‘You came!’ she said with relief and tears in her eyes ‘I started to think you wouldn’t’

 

‘Traffic sucked’ Ashlyn told her grinning. Tears spilled out of Ali’s eyes as she stood up. She wasn’t sure what to do, should she hug Ashlyn? She didn’t have to think about it for long, Ashlyn pulled Ali to her and Ali buried her face in Ashlyn’s shirt. Ashlyn buried her face in Ali’s hair and it took all her strength not to start crying too. She couldn’t believe this was happening.

 

‘I’m so sorry’ Ali muttered into Ashlyn’s shirt

 

‘Come on let’s go’ Ashlyn said wanting to move their emotions to somewhere more quiet. Ali nodded she slowly let Ashlyn go and went to take the trolley ‘no no’ Ashlyn said and gently pushed her hands away she took the trolley herself and Ali held on to the side unsure what else to do with her hands. She sniffed and stared at the ground the whole way to the car.

 

Ashlyn loaded the bags into the car and then walked around and opened the door for Ali. Ali was relieved to see that she was still getting the special treatment, at least somewhat. She did feel something was different though. She hoped it wouldn’t be, but she had hurt Ashlyn and that wasn’t going to be forgiven and forgotten easily.

 

‘Do you want me to take you to your house? You’ve told your mom that you’re coming home haven’t you?’ Ashlyn asked.

 

Ali nodded ‘yeah she knows I’m coming, but I don’t want to go home yet, I want us to talk, can we go to your house?’

 

‘Ok’ Ashlyn said and she headed for her house. Abby had gone over to Sarah’s to give them some space in case Ali did want to come to the house. They left Ali’s bags in the car and went into the house. Ashlyn helped Ali down from the jeep and opened all the doors for Ali but still something felt different.

 

They went and sat on the sofa. Ali noticed the gap between them, usually Ashlyn would have sat right next to her even before they were dating. There was an awkward silence that Ali eventually broke.

 

‘Ash please don’t be cold with me’ she said

 

‘I don’t know how to be’ Ashlyn told her ‘I still can’t believe any of that happened, I thought everything was going great between us and out of the blue you suddenly told me it wasn’t and you were leaving’

 

‘I know, it’s just that it was a great opportunity and…’ Ali began

 

‘I know all that Ali!’ Ashlyn said raising her voice ‘it wasn’t about you taking the opportunity, yes I was sad that you’d leave for 6 months but I told you we’d be ok and I believed that. This is all about how stubborn and weird you suddenly became. You went from my sweet sensitive girlfriend to a monster that didn’t care about me literally over night’

 

‘I did care, I always cared!’ Ali said crying

 

Ashlyn hated seeing her cry but she held strong and didn’t put her arms around her or offer her any comfort, they needed to have this out.

 

‘I honestly broke up with you for you, I didn’t believe you would manage 6 months apart. I didn’t want to be there unable to focus because I’d just be worrying about you all the time. Turns out all I did was break both our hearts and I couldn’t focus at all. Not only did I spend the whole time missing you and wishing you were still mine, I spent the whole time wondering where you were and what you were doing – everything that I didn’t want. I hated it there and I think I was probably the worst player they’ve ever had’

 

‘I doubt that’ Ashlyn said not wanting Ali to feel bad about her career.

 

‘Have you been with someone else while I was away’ Ali asked not looking at Ashlyn. There came a pause.

 

‘No’ Ashlyn eventually said and Ali sighed with relief ‘I needed time, you were the real deal for me’

 

‘And you were, I mean ARE for me I want us to be together again and go back to how we were, do you think we can do that?’ Ali asked

 

Ashlyn looked thoughtful and eventually nodded ‘yes but I don’t think it will happen straight away, I need to trust you again’

 

‘I get that’ Ali said quietly and gave a big sigh ‘well I guess I better get home’ she said regretfully, this wasn’t at all how she had pictured her first meeting with Ashlyn being. She truly believed she would come out of baggage claim into arrivals and Ashlyn would have jumped her. She stood up and Ashlyn stood too.

 

‘Oh I forgot I made you lunch in case you did come back here, sorry I should have offered that to you when we first got here, you must be starving’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Not really’ Ali said as Ashlyn went over to the refrigerator. She took out some sandwiches that she had made and wrapped them in a food bag for Ali to take with her.

 

‘Thank you’ Ali said shyly smiling up at Ashlyn, and Ashlyn returned the smile. _‘She still cares, it isn’t all lost’_ Ali thought to herself, knowing that if someone tries to feed you even when they aren’t responsible for you then it’s because they really care about you.

 

They went back out to the car and were soon at Ali’s house, they both sat for a minute. Ali made no attempt to get out and Ashlyn made no attempt to move to open the door for Ali and get the bags out either.

 

‘I really want you back’ Ali eventually whispered

 

‘I know’ Ashlyn said just as quietly. She slowly reached for the door and came round to Ali’s side to help her down. Ali was tired, she slipped getting down from the jeep and was very grateful Ashlyn had been there to catch her ‘are you ok?’ She asked anxiously setting Ali down on the ground.

 

Ali nodded, she had enjoyed feeling Ashlyn grab hold of her and set her on her feet again, and continue to hold on to her as she asked if she was ok, her hands soon left her though when she realised Ali was fine and she went to get the bags.

 

Ali went to pick up one of the two large suitcases she had but Ashlyn shook her head, she took one in each hand and Ali was impressed at her strength. They walked to the house. Ali’s mom was absolutely thrilled to see her, they both cried and Ashlyn told them she would take the suitcases up to Ali’s room and then she left.

 

‘You can stay if you want?’ Ali’s mom said, her arms still wrapped around her daughter

 

‘Oh no thanks’ Ashlyn said ‘I have some things to do unfortunately’

 

Ashlyn left and went home. She herself was a bit puzzled by how cold she had been, she expected to jump in Ali’s arms too but it hadn’t felt right.

 

The evening came and Ashlyn got a text, she recognised Ali’s number and realised that she hadn’t re-entered Ali’s US number again in her contacts she did it now. Then read the message.

 

‘Hey, I’ve pretty much slept all day, do you want to come over? x’

 

‘I’m glad you’ve rested. No thanks x’ Ashlyn replied she didn’t want to go over, she felt very sore about everything and worried that if she did agree to go then by the time she got there Ali may have changed her mind and hurt her again.

 

‘Oh please come, I really want to spend some time with you x’

 

‘I just can’t at the moment x’

 

‘Are you busy with someone else? X’

 

‘No I’m at home x’

 

No further messages came so Ashlyn felt that Ali had given up very easily.

 

Sarah had come over and she and Abby had headed out. Ashlyn wanted Abby to be happy but she felt a little resentful of how easy they seemed to have it.

 

There came a knock at the door an hour later, Ashlyn wasn’t expecting anyone. She went to the door wondering who it might be. To her surprise Ali was stood there. She looked anxious and was wringing her hands in despair ‘I’m sorry’ she said to Ashlyn ‘I just wanted to see you I had to come over’

 

Ashlyn stared at her, she hated seeing Ali like this. She was so beautiful, by far the most beautiful girl Ashlyn had ever seen. She stared up at Ashlyn with her puppy eyes look and started crying again.

 

‘Please forgive me’ Ali sobbed ‘I don’t want to be without you’

 

‘I just don’t know if I can yet’ Ashlyn replied leaning on the door frame ‘look I’ll see you at training on Monday Ali’ Ashlyn said started to close the door. It was early so as much as she didn’t like Ali walking by herself, she knew that she would be safe.

 

‘But…’ she heard come from Ali’s mouth and she opened the door slightly again

 

‘But what?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘I love you’ Ali said looking Ashlyn right in the eyes. That was all it took. Ashlyn flung the door open pulled Ali into her arms and kissed her passionately. She closed the door behind them, and it was safe to say that Ali and Ashlyn were an item again.

 


	23. Alpha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something a little more light hearted after all the recent angst!

The next day Ali and Ashlyn got together with Abby and Sarah, even though it had only been a month they had missed hanging out as a four and it was great for them all to be together again.

 

Sarah, Ali and Ashlyn decided to play a trick on Abby. She was being very alpha at the moment and needed taking down a peg or two.

 

It was Saturday and a hot day so they decided to head to the beach to work on their tans. They went to the club where Abby’s family were members as it had a private beach that wouldn’t be as busy as the normal beach.

 

They were all lying on sun loungers when Sarah gave Ali and Ashlyn a wink.

 

‘I hate how I always get tan lines’ Sarah said

 

‘Yeah they are a bit of a pain’ Abby replied ‘you could lower the straps on your bikini top perhaps if you’re careful?’

 

‘I’ll still have white breasts though’ Sarah said ‘I’d really like an equal tan all over my top half’

 

Abby grinned at her and shrugged completely unaware of what was coming next.

 

Sarah looked all around ‘it’s not too busy here, I think I might just take my top off. Is topless sunbathing forbidden here Ali?’

 

‘No I don’t think so’ Ali replied trying not to laugh

 

Abby’s mouth fell open ‘yeah right Sarah’ she said

 

‘No one minds if I sunbathe topless do they?’ Sarah asked

 

‘No not at all’ Ali said

 

‘Please go ahead’ Ashlyn said with a smirk

 

Abby threw Ashlyn a disgusted look

 

‘Can you unhook me Abby please?’ Sarah said turning her back to Abby

 

‘What?! No! I’m not undoing it Sarah’ Abby said

 

Sarah reached round and started trying to undo the top herself

 

‘Sarah stop it, what do you think you’re doing?’ Abby said getting really hot under the collar

 

‘I told you I want an even tan’ replied Sarah innocently

 

‘But you’ve always been so shy you can’t possibly be okay with exposing yourself to everyone here’ Abby said still astonished

 

‘Wow Abby you sound like you don’t even want to see my breasts’ Sarah told her

 

‘Of course I do, if you wanted to show me I mean’ Abby added hastily getting flustered ‘but only me I don’t want you to show them to everyone’

 

‘You sound very controlling Abby’ Ashlyn told her deliberately knowing this would wind Abby up

 

‘Oh shut up Ashlyn you just want to see her tits’ Abby said taking all her anger out on Ashlyn

 

Ashlyn grinned ‘I’m just saying she should do what she wants’

 

‘Yeah well you’re just disgusting Ashlyn and a total sleaze, you’re not helping’ Abby told her

 

Sarah managed to unhook her top, and that was the final straw for Abby.

 

‘Sarah I don’t want you to take your top off’ she said and Sarah just shrugged ‘I don’t get this, you’re always so shy and that’s what I like so much about you, I feel like I don’t know you at all now’ Abby stood up and grabbed her towel ‘if you do this then I’m going home’

 

Ashlyn, Ali and Sarah all looked at each other and burst out laughing ‘hahaha she so got you Abby’ Ashlyn yelled laughing her head off

 

‘What?’ Abby asked not understanding

 

‘She was just winding you up’ Ashlyn explained ‘Abby you’re nearly crying!’

 

Sarah and Ali were grinning away. Abby found herself smiling too. She sat back down on her sun lounger, sighed with relief and buried her face in her towel

 

‘You might want to do my top up again Abby before I really do accidentally reveal all’ Sarah said still laughing

 

Abby unburied herself from her towel she was still bright red, she did Sarah’s top up again and shook her head at her still grinning.

 

‘You win’ she told her ‘you really got me there. God my heart is still pounding I couldn’t work out what was happening’ Abby said

 

She reached over and pulled Sarah to her. She sat with Sarah in between her legs and wrapped her arms around her and squeezed her tight. She had a new found respect for Sarah now after that.


	24. Anxiety Part 1 & 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the first time - a double chapter for you! You can thank me now.

Anxiety Part 1

 

Ali had been back for 2 weeks. She had barely spent any time apart from Ashlyn and things were going well.

 

Ashlyn and Ali were on the phone.

 

‘As much as I love training, I do enjoy the weekend’ Ali said

 

‘Me too, all day to spend on our own doing what we want’ Ashlyn replied

 

‘So I’ll meet you by the tennis courts at 11 ok?’ Ali asked

 

Ashlyn went quiet. She suddenly had a flashback to the last time she had arranged to meet Ali at the park. She had gone there all relaxed to meet her then suddenly been dumped.

 

‘Are you still there Ash?’ Ali asked

 

‘Erm yeah I’m here, yeah I’ll meet you at the tennis courts’ Ashlyn confirmed

 

11.00 came round and Ali was at the tennis courts. She always arrived exactly on time, as she respected that it was sweet of Ashlyn to always be there early for her.

 

Ashlyn however wasn’t there, which worried Ali. She tried to keep calm and accept that maybe some things between them would be different now….

 

Unknown to Ali, Ashlyn was at the park already she had arrived early as usual, but she was stood outside scared to go in. She remembered what had happened last time they had met near here. She couldn’t relax and leaned against the fence and sighed to herself. She felt anxious and was burning up slightly. Eventually at 11.05 Ashlyn plucked up the courage to go into the park.

 

If Ali wasn’t there now then she decided she wouldn’t wait, she would just go home. And she hoped that if she was there she wouldn’t suddenly be all weird with her again.

 

Ashlyn saw Ali before Ali saw her. She was stood in a gorgeous red summery dress. She had one hand linked with the wire of the tennis court and her other hand was nervously by her mouth. She wasn’t biting her nails just tapping them on her chin and lips. She was worriedly looking left and right.

 

Ashlyn felt bad and picked up her pace. Ali spotted her and her facial expression changed from one of anxiety to joy, she had a bit of doubt in her face though. She came straight towards Ashlyn and they soon met. Ali threw her arms around her and Ashlyn picked her up and span her round giving her a kiss. She set her back down again and kept her arm firmly around Ali ‘sorry I was a little late’ Ashlyn said. She was fine now that Ali had been there and she was pleased to see her. Ashlyn slipped her hand into Ali’s and kissed her hair. Ali smiled happily up at her and squeezed her hand.

 

The next day again Ali arranged to meet Ashlyn by the tennis courts. She arrived on time again, as did Ashlyn but again Ashlyn found herself nervously waiting outside feeling unable to come in. The feeling was getting worse instead of better, the positive experience of the day before had done nothing to calm her nerves and anxiety.

 

She finally again plucked up the courage to go in, five minutes late again. She looked for Ali and saw her waiting, but saw that 2 people were with her. Ashlyn then realised that Ali looked terrified and was cowering against the fence. She noticed both the women had cans of beer in their hands and they were harassing Ali.

 

Ali had been a bit early today and while waiting two drunk women had approached her.

 

‘Oi you give us some cash’ one of them said staggering over to her

 

‘I’m sorry I don’t have any’ Ali said truthfully

 

‘What in that posh handbag there’s no money?’ the other one said

 

Ali didn’t say anything and one of them pushed her into the fence ‘I want some more fucking booze’ she shouted in Ali’s face absolutely stinking of alcohol. She threw her empty can at Ali’s head then took another can out of a carrier bag she had. She threw the empty carrier bag on the floor.

 

‘I just don’t have any’ Ali said starting to cry she felt very cornered backed against the fence ‘if I did then you could have it’

 

She grabbed Ali’s purse from her opened it and tipped the contents onto the floor, as Ali had said she really didn’t have any cash ‘what fucking use are you?’ she had shouted in her face and the drunk pushed her again.

 

‘Fucking useless bitch’ the other said to her

 

Ali sobbed a bit more hoping they would just go or Ashlyn would come she desperately tried to look round for her but couldn’t see anyone.

 

‘What a boring cunt she is’ the other said and Ali gasped at the use of such a vile word

 

‘I’d like a bit of cunt actually, shall I have some of hers?’ the drunk asked her friend

 

‘Haha yeah go for it’

 

‘NO NO!’ Ali screamed she felt very vulnerable now in a dress and a thong ‘please just leave me alone’ but she felt one of the drunks hands appear on the hem of her dress she desperately tried to hold it down but was losing her grip.

 

Ashlyn had appeared in the park at that moment she was running at full speed towards Ali. Just as Ali was losing grip on her dress she felt the drunk be hauled off her and saw her get thrown to the floor. It was Ashlyn.

 

Ashlyn stamped hard on the drunks face and repeatedly kicked her. The drunk’s friend staggered over at that point and punched Ashlyn hard in the face. Ashlyn was strong and sturdy and while the punch hurt it didn’t knock her over. Instead she returned a killer blow and descended on the drunks absolutely battering them both. They got up and started to run as fast as two drunks could.

 

Ashlyn immediately turned to Ali and pulled her close. Ali was crying bitterly she had been very frightened and felt Ashlyn had got there just in time, if she hadn’t then one of those drunks could have had their hand up her dress.

 

Ashlyn stood protectively around Ali, making sure that she felt completely safe and surrounded by her. She was shaking and sobbing. Ashlyn texted Abby while holding Ali and Abby arrived in less than five minutes. She wrapped her arms around both Ali and Ashlyn ‘are you both ok?’ she asked concerned.

 

Ashlyn nodded her lip was bleeding but she wasn’t bothered about herself at all only Ali. Ashlyn had phoned Abby just in case the drunks had reappeared with some of their friends. No one would take Abby on in a fight. She wanted Abby to bring the car so they could take Ali home. They kept Ali in the middle of them and walked her to the car. Ashlyn and Ali got in the back together, and Ali continued to sob while Ashlyn explained to Abby what had happened.

 

Abby was furious and wanted to turn back and find the drunks to show them what happened to someone who upset one of her friends. However after comforting and calming Ali, the three went to the police station to give a report. The police informed them that they had a few similar reports that matched the description Ali and Ashlyn had given them. Again the two drunks had been sexually intimidating to other girls but they hadn’t gone through with their threats. Abby and Ashlyn dropped Ali home explaining to her mom what had happened.

 

‘You were lucky there Ash’ Abby told her when they were alone in the car ‘Ali could have been raped or anything’

 

‘I know, I got there just in time I think’ She looked down quite proudly at her knuckles that were coming up in bruises, that she had got protecting her girlfriend.

 

‘I don’t really get how that happened, I always turn up at least 5 minutes early when I’m meeting Sarah anywhere as I don’t like her waiting around on her own, perhaps you should do the same. You shouldn’t leave her waiting by herself like that’ Abby said

 

Ashlyn nodded and agreed that she would in future meet Ali earlier. She of course had always done this before and she didn’t want to tell Abby that she was having a serious problem with anxiety before meeting Ali.

 

 

Anxiety Part 2

 

Ashlyn went to see Ali that evening to make sure she was feeling better.

 

Ali seemed quiet. Ashlyn sat Ali down on her lap and held her tight. ‘I’m glad I got there when I did’ Ashlyn said ‘I couldn’t believe what was happening’

 

‘It shouldn’t have happened at all’ Ali suddenly said climbing off of Ashlyn’s lap ‘You should have been there!’ she suddenly yelled

 

‘What?’ Ashlyn said

 

‘You’re always late! You leave me waiting around for you, which you shouldn’t do, you’ve seen now what can happen. WHY DON’T YOU CARE ABOUT ME ANYMORE?!’ Ali yelled

 

‘I Do’ Ashlyn said quietly also standing up now

 

‘You haven’t been on time for anything since I came back, it makes me worry that you aren’t coming’ Ali sobbed

 

Ashlyn decided to tell the truth ‘come’ she said to Ali and Ali went to her. Ashlyn sat her back down on her lap and Ali rested her head on her shoulder ‘I’m late all the time because I’m scared’

 

‘Scared?’ Ali questioned looking up

 

‘I’m scared you aren’t coming and then when I see you there I’m always scared that you are going to dump me again. You gave me no warning Ali, everything was great and then you just ditched me. I can’t relax. Every time I go to see you I get anxious and start expecting the worst’

 

Ali went quiet, she thought she had got away quite easily with her dumping of Ashlyn. It hadn’t even occurred to her the scarring Ashlyn would have from that experience. ‘I promise you if I ever have doubts about us again, and I never will’ she emphasised ‘that I will call you first and tell you that I want to have a talk about us ok? Therefore if you are meeting me anywhere you can be 100% assured that I am coming and that everything is fine’

 

Ashlyn grinned ‘thank you’ she said ‘Ali are you ok now? That was horrible earlier, I honestly think the police were right though that they didn’t want to seriously hurt you or sexually assault you, I think they just wanted a good look up your dress and of course money for more drink’

 

Ali agreed it had been a horrible experience but she wasn’t traumatised by it, and she felt now that she was on the right track to getting the old Ashlyn back.

 

They watched a movie together in Ali’s room, which ended up being only half watched due to the level of making out.

 

This was the first time they’d really ever laid down on a bed together and kissed, Ali was lying in between Ashlyn’s legs and Ashlyn could feel the mound of Ali’s pussy pressing against her own. She put her hands on Ali’s ass for the first time and gently squeezed, Ali moaned and didn’t move Ashlyn’s hands away. They made out some more and then Ali interrupted.

 

‘Ash’ Ali suddenly said ‘I think I’m ready to go further’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet no one wants to thank me now for stopping it there ;)


	25. Will they, won't they part II

‘What?’ Ashlyn asked unsure that she had heard correctly

 

‘While I was away I kind of realised that I’m ready for the next step. I wanted some more time to think about it but I am ready. I wanted to do it when you took me to your house when I came back from Germany, but it didn’t feel right. That was my plan though. To go back to your house and lose my virginity’

 

Ashlyn’s mouth fell open, she was torn between feeling that she had missed an opportunity and glad that she had stood her ground and not gone running when Ali had come back.

 

‘Not tonight Ash, as I’m still shaken from earlier, but I feel sometime soon it will happen’ Ali said

 

‘Wow’ Ashlyn muttered ‘well I’m here when you’re ready’ she said ‘and you can change your mind, but I am here when the time comes and I promise I won’t rush you’

 

‘I know’ Ali said with a grin ‘that’s how I know that you’re the right person to do these things with. I think I’m ready to try you going down on me, but I don’t want to do fingers yet’

 

Ashlyn nodded understanding ‘worried it will hurt?’ she asked

 

‘Very’ Ali grinned shyly ‘I’m scared of how much it hurts when you use fingers. Does it hurt a lot?’

 

‘It did hurt me yes’ Ashlyn said honestly ‘but she wasn’t gentle with me like I will be with you’

 

‘Oh’ Ali said disappointed to hear that another moment in Ashlyn’s life that should have been special hadn’t been. ‘It’s weird to think of you being fingered it very much seems something that the butch does to the femme’

 

‘Well admittedly I haven’t been for a while, but when I was younger and still finding myself I tended to date women a bit older than me at first so they were always wanting to do it to me’ Ashlyn explained

 

‘Have you fucked a girl with a strap on?’ Ali asked

 

Ashlyn nodded ‘many times’

 

‘Have you received as well?’

 

‘Again not recently’ Ashlyn confirmed ‘but I have done in the past’

 

‘Oh my god’ laughed Ali ‘I really can’t imagine that'

 

Ashlyn laughed too

 

‘Has Abby?’ Ali asked curious. It was absolutely impossible to ever imagine Abby receiving sex.

 

Ashlyn laughed ‘she has actually’ Ali laughed too ‘don’t tell Abby I told you that. I don’t think she’d mind as it wasn’t recently but I think she’d be embarrassed if Sarah knew’

 

‘I really can’t imagine Abby on her back getting fucked, that is just so wrong’ Ali said

 

‘Ewww Ali don’t, I don’t ever want to think about Abby being fucked or fucking’ Ashlyn said and they both laughed again.

 

Ashlyn left soon after as Ali got tired. She sat in the car by herself for a little while reflecting on the evening and looking forward very much to what was soon coming.

 

The next day at training…….

 

 ‘Didn’t take her long did it?’ Megan said to Syd shaking her head.

 

Sarah strained her neck to see what they were looking at. She saw Abby talking to a blonde girl, Sarah wasn’t a judgemental person but she thought the girl looked slutty.

 

‘What do you mean?’ Syd asked

 

‘Sorry I forget sometimes that you played for another club for a few years’ Megan said ‘that is Lacey Barrington, every time we play her team she and Abby hook up after the match’

 

Syd laughed ‘well she’s only just got off the bus and she’s already gravitated over to Abby’

 

‘Yeah and look at Abby’ she's loving it’ Megan said

 

They didn’t realise that Sarah was behind them. She felt worried, she knew she hadn’t committed to Abby yet, but she had a reason for that. She loved Abby and thought Abby was only into her. She realised at that moment though that Abby was actually single and if Abby wanted to do something with Lacey then she could. Sarah had to stop her. She had plans with Abby anyway that night so she thought she would go over to re-affirm those.

 

‘Hey’ Sarah said going over to Abby and Lacey, not caring that she was interrupting.

 

‘Oh hey’ Abby said looking a bit shifty ‘erm Lacey this is Sarah, Sarah this is Lacey’

 

They both said hi to each other with a little bit of rivalry coming through.

 

‘I was just wondering what time you’re picking me up tonight?’ Sarah asked Abby

 

‘Ah yeah about that, I’m glad you came over’ Abby said ‘I can’t actually make tonight’

 

‘Why not’ Sarah said looking so downcast that Abby felt very guilty

 

‘I just can’t, you see Lacey is in town and we rarely ever get to catch up so I’m kinda gonna spend the evening with her’ Abby said

 

Sarah gave Abby her saddest look ‘but you already made plans with me’ Sarah said and Abby could see she was welling up and she hated it.

 

‘I’m sorry, I’ll take you out tomorrow instead ok?’

 

She noticed Sarah’s bottom lip wobble, and she turned and ran off.

 

‘Has that kid got a bit of a crush on you?’ Lacey asked and Abby found herself resenting hearing her say that. She held her tongue though.

 

Just as Sarah was reaching the door leading to the locker room Ashlyn was coming out, she saw Sarah in tears rushing towards her ‘hey what’s the matter?’ she said reaching out and pulling Sarah to her

 

‘Let me go please’ Sarah sobbed trying to pull away from Ashlyn’s strong arms

 

‘I can’t just let you go when you’re crying like this’ Ashlyn said ‘has someone hurt you? Do I need to hit someone?’ Ashlyn said very puzzled and feeling protective of Sarah. Sarah started hammering her fists on Ashlyn’s shoulders to make her let go which Ashlyn reluctantly did.

 

Ashlyn looked round to see who on earth could possibly have upset Sarah, and to see if she could spot Abby and send her after Sarah to cheer her up. Then she noticed Abby looking very guilty while talking to Lacey and all became clear. Ashlyn gave a signal to Abby that she wanted to talk to her. Abby excused herself to Lacey and came over to Ashlyn.

 

‘Did you see Sarah crying then?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Yes I did’ Abby confirmed

 

‘Well don’t you think you should go after her?’

 

‘I kind of caused it’ Abby said looking embarrassed

 

‘How?’

 

‘Well we were going to have dinner tonight, but then Lacey showed up and I want to go with her instead’

 

‘Abby you can’t just cancel plans with Sarah, you love her for fucks sake. Lacey is some 10 cent tart, why would you spend time with her when you have Sarah?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘I don’t have Sarah Ashlyn’

 

‘Well not officially but you act like you’re together when you’re with her’

 

‘Yeah but we aren’t together. I’ve tried everything Ash, she just will not be my girlfriend. She acts like my girlfriend but every time I ask her she says no, and well Lacey being here has made me realise that I am sick of waiting’ Abby said sounding quite bitter

 

‘She’s worth the wait’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Yes she is and I will continue to pursue her, but I have needs Ashlyn and I’m single so tonight I choose to have sex with Lacey’

 

Ashlyn realised that Abby was right. She felt sorry for Sarah though ‘I understand Abby, but you’ve really hurt her, I’ll ask her to come out with me and Ali tonight instead’

 

Ashlyn walked off leaving Abby to go back to Lacey. For the first time it occurred to Ashlyn that Sarah constantly turning Abby down was actually very odd. She acted like she was Abby’s girlfriend but just wouldn’t commit.

 

When Ashlyn went back inside she found Sarah crying her heart out in Ali’s arms. Ashlyn sat on Sarah’s other side and stroked her back and hair ‘don’t be upset’ she said softly to her ‘why don’t you come out with me and Ali tonight instead?’

 

‘Erm actually Ashlyn I was thinking Sarah and I should go out by ourselves’ Ali said

 

‘Oh ok sure’ Ashlyn replied feeling disappointed, and then she saw Ali mouth ‘I’ll explain later’ to her and she nodded understanding that Ali wanted some time with Sarah, hopefully she was going to ask her why she wouldn’t date Abby officially.

 

After Sarah had composed herself Ali suggested they go back to her house. They sat on the sofa together.

 

‘Do you think Abby will really sleep with her?’ Sarah asked between tears

 

‘It doesn’t look good’ Ali eventually replied ‘listen Sarah why won’t you commit to Abby?’

 

‘What?’ Sarah asked

 

‘Well she's asked you out so many times but you always say no, I want you to have what me and Ashlyn have. You obviously like her so much, this has proved just how much she means to you, and Abby has been very patient you can’t expect her to wait any longer’ Ali said

 

‘I know’ Sarah whispered while starting to cry harder again, hot tears spilling all down her face

 

‘Please tell me what’s wrong, why won’t you go out with her?’ Ali asked

 

‘It’s hard’

 

‘I know but we are best friends, I need you to tell me Sarah’

 

‘Well firstly I don’t think my mom likes her, she doesn’t like the size difference between us. Don’t get me wrong she’s always polite to Abby but I know she isn’t keen’ Sarah explained

 

‘Hmm that’s difficult’ Ali said ‘I know your mom’s opinion is important to you’

 

‘It is, but in this case I don’t agree with her’ Sarah said ‘Abby’s a gentle giant’

 

‘She is’ Ali agreed ‘she’d never use her strength against you Sarah, in fact quite the opposite – she’ll always take care of you’

 

‘It’s just annoying because my mom really likes Ashlyn, yet Ashlyn is pretty big as well’ Sarah said

 

‘Well Ashlyn is Ashlyn’ Ali said proudly ‘no one could dislike Ashlyn, oh unless she was dating your baby sister’ Ali said with a grin thinking of Andrea ‘I honestly think you need to introduce Abby and your mom properly, she’ll like her it's just that she doesn’t know her well that there’s a problem’

 

Sarah nodded and Ali asked ‘what was the other problem?’

 

Sarah hesitated ‘you know when Abby and Ashlyn first asked us out? They had a conversation the next day where they were both being really disgusting about, well you know’

 

‘Ohhh yes I remember that well’ Ali said

 

‘Yes. Well I just don’t feel body confident and I know that if I go out with Abby then eventually I’ll have to show my body to her and I’m scared there will be something she doesn’t like and then she’ll break up with me and tell everyone there’s something wrong with me’

 

‘Oh my god’ Ali said and to Sarah’s surprise she was smiling ‘I had this problem with Ashlyn. I gave her an absolute hammering over it. The difference between you and me Sarah is our confidence levels. I told Ashlyn straight out that I was disgusted by those comments, and I showed her my pussy and told her to laugh all she wanted’

 

Sarah stared open mouthed at this ‘weren’t you embarrassed?’

 

‘Very, but I didn’t show it. She loved it and she admitted straight away that it was just a few dumb comments that neither of them meant. Sarah honestly tell Abby tomorrow please take the bull by the horns and tell her you aren’t body confident and that you’re worried about your mom’s reaction to her’

 

‘I’ll try, but I think it’s too late. Abby will sleep with that slag tonight and then what if she decides to get involved with her?’ Sarah asked

 

‘She won’t get involved with her - shes a fucking bitch with nothing on you anyway. With regard to sleeping with her I think unfortunately you will just have to accept that has happened and wipe the slate clean tomorrow’ Ali said knowing that was easier said than done

 

Sarah nodded. It killed her that Abby would sleep with someone else but she realised she had been very patient, and Sarah had given her nothing to go on at all.

 

Ashlyn came over an hour later and she was very sweet to Sarah. Ali was really proud of just how kind Ashlyn could be. Ashlyn’s phone rang and she looked down and saw Abby’s name. She knew that unfortunately Sarah and Ali had seen it was Abby ringing too. She excused herself and went outside to talk to Abby…..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it didn't quite happen there ;)


	26. Clearing up a few things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't already then take a look at my new unique chapter called "Fly On The Wall". Apologies for the delay with updating, here is the next part, and things finally start happening, though perhaps not in the way that many of you thought ;)

‘Hey’ Ash said trying to sound normal, but she was a bit annoyed at Abby. Sarah was such a sweet girl and Abby had really hurt her.

‘Hey where are you?’ Abby asked

‘At Ali’s house we’re trying to cheer Sarah up’

‘Oh’ Abby replied

‘Where are you?’

‘At home’

‘At home? Did Lacey not show up?’ Ashlyn asked

‘She showed up alright, and it was just the same as ever. Her acting really slutty and throwing herself at me. It was such a turn off and my mind just kept going back to Sarah’s face earlier when she realised I was going to spend the night with Lacey’ Abby said

‘So you couldn’t go through with it? My my Abby how things have changed. Last year you would have jumped at it’ Ashlyn said surprised but pleased

‘I know, I just feel differently now. I just want to be with Sarah, but she won’t be with me Ashlyn. I’ve tried everything’ Abby said desperately 

‘Come over and get her’ Ashlyn said ‘she’ll be so relieved you haven’t done anything that I think she’ll start to talk to you’

Abby jumped in the car and came straight to Ali’s. When she got there she went straight into Sarah, Ali and Ashlyn left them alone.

‘Why are you here? Did you not sleep with her?’ Sarah asked

‘No I didn’t, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, so I left her hotel and went home. Then I called Ashlyn and she told me you were here so I came straight over.’ Abby explained

‘Thank you for coming’ Sarah said ‘and thank you also for not sleeping with her’

‘About that Sarah, I think we need to talk. You obviously want something from me, else you wouldn’t be this upset. Do you want to come back to my house and talk?’

Sarah nodded and they explained to Ali and Ashlyn that they were going to leave ‘don’t come back before midnight please’ Abby mouthed to Ashlyn and she nodded.

‘Tell me please’ Abby said sitting them both down on the sofa ‘don’t leave anything out’

‘It’s really hard to tell you’ Sarah said nervously 

‘Try please’ Abby said reassuringly 

Sarah took a deep breath and told Abby exactly what she had told Ali ‘there’s 2 reasons’ she started ‘firstly I am extremely concerned about how my mom will react to us dating. I know I’m 20 and it shouldn’t matter but mom is all I have so her opinion matters. She's worried about how much bigger you are than me’

‘Oh’ Abby said ‘well I get why she feels like that but I think she just needs to know me better. I’d never hurt you’

‘That’s what Ali feels too’ Sarah confirmed

‘Well then that’s what I’ll do’ Abby said ‘I’ll start spending some time at your house when she’s there and then she can get used to me and see that having me around is a good thing as I can look after you both’

Sarah found herself smiling at that and then her smile faded again.

‘What was the second thing?’ Abby asked realising that it wasn’t that simple.

‘It’s just that night before we went on that date/not date thing, you and Ashlyn were being really disgusting about girls bodies and it made me feel self conscious to a point that I feel worried if we get involved, when the time comes and we get sexual you’ll find something about me that you don’t like and then we’ll be finished and you’ll tell everyone’

‘Oh my god’ Abby exclaimed ‘so a stupid joke that I didn’t even mean with Ashlyn is what has meant that you wouldn’t go out with me all this time?!’

Sarah nodded

‘Sarah I am so sorry’ Abby said ‘I can’t believe I made you feel like that. It was honestly a total joke, I couldn’t care less what someone’s body looks like, jesus you should see mine’ she grinned ‘far from ideal!’

Sarah was so relieved she couldn’t believe that not only had Abby been totally joking, she didn’t care at all and also she herself had body confidence issues some times.

‘Sarah let’s start this now, please will you be my girlfriend? I won’t pressure you at all, sex will all come when we are ready’ Abby said opening herself up completely

Sarah nodded she fell into Abby’s arms and then she kissed her. They had kissed on the lips but not passionately, this was passionate and they both needed it, this was months of pent up feelings coming out.

‘I must have a shower’ Sarah said to Abby regretfully ‘I’m sweating, I didn’t get a chance to shower after practise and I need to wash these tears off my face and just feel clean again’

Abby nodded ‘I’ll get you a towel’ she said and then she surprised Sarah ‘Sarah don’t take this the wrong way, but let me join you please, let’s show ourselves to each other’

She expected Sarah to outright refuse but she didn’t. She slowly nodded and Abby led her to the bathroom. Abby didn’t want to illuminate Sarah, she took a few candles out of the bathroom cabinet and lit them creating mood lighting.

They both slowly stripped off. Sarah hesitated at taking off her underwear, Abby went first and then Sarah followed. 

‘You’re absolutely beautiful’ Abby said taking the full sight of Sarah in for the first time. Sarah was glad that Abby couldn’t see how much she was blushing. Abby carried her into the water and they started to wash each other while making out and kissing all over each other’s neck and shoulders. Abby began washing Sarah with a sponge, when she reached between her legs she asked first ‘may i?’

Sarah nodded and Abby softly began to rhythmically rub the sponge against Sarah intimately. She knew what she was doing was about turning Sarah on more than washing her, she was already perfectly clean, they had been in the shower a while. 

‘mmm’ escaped from Sarah and she closed her eyes. Abby carried on and she started to kiss her way down Sarah’s body including both her breasts which again had moans of pleasure escape from Sarah.

She got down on her knees and continued with the sponge. ‘It’s so beautiful Sarah’ Abby told her ‘can I give it a quick kiss to show you how beautiful?’

Sarah was turned on now, she agreed at once and Abby pressed her lips to Sarah’s clit she deliberately moved her lips to stroke her and let her tongue join in. Sarah pushed Abby’s head into her harder ‘don’t’ stop’ she whispered

Neither of them could believe this was happening. Just an hour ago they had both thought everything was over between them.

‘Abby’ Sarah whispered and Abby pulled back her head slightly wondering if she had gone too far ‘Abby fuck me’ Sarah told her ‘I’m ready’

Abby couldn’t believe this had Sarah just said she wanted to have sex?

‘Are you sure’ Abby whispered standing again

Sarah nodded, she had never been so sure

‘Tell me if at anytime you want to stop ok?’ Abby asked and Sarah nodded she felt completely comfortable.

Abby wrapped them both in a big towel and dried them off as best she could then carried Sarah to her bed. She lay her down and kissed her clitoris some more then feeling how wet Sarah was she asked if she was ready. Sarah nodded eagerly and pulled Abby down on her ‘go gently’ she whispered ‘I haven’t had anything in there before’

Abby nodded, she ran her middle finger up and down Sarah’s lips and eventually pressed it to her opening. She gently pushed forwards

‘Ow!’ Sarah gasped ‘fuck it really does hurt’

‘Do you want to stop’ Abby asked concerned but Sarah grinned at her and shook her head. Abby continued to gently press into Sarah occasionally pushing a little bit harder and hearing a mixture of pain and pleasure moans from Sarah. She pushed her finger a bit harder again and it slid into Sarah.

‘Oh!’ Sarah gasped 

‘Does it hurt?’ Abby asked

‘Not too bad’ Sarah said ‘I’m ready for your next finger I think’

‘Let me just get you used to the feeling of one finger sliding in and out first’ Abby said and started moving her finger

‘mmmm’ Sarah moaned enjoying the feeling. Abby could feel she had got wetter, she pulled her finger out and then pushed back in with the first two fingers on her hand.

Sarah’s face screwed up in pain but Abby was in. she stroked Sarah’s face and kept still trying to get Sarah used to the feeling of having something bigger inside her. To Abby it felt amazing, Sarah was the tightest and most beautiful girl she had ever slept with. She gently started to move her fingers and Sarah’s noises of pain became noises of pleasure. The pain subsided and soon Abby was going in and out of Sarah while she cried out with pleasure. She came hard soaking Abby’s hand and Abby pulled out. She rolled onto her back and pulled Sarah onto her, both of them panting. Eventually Sarah sat up and looked at Abby she had a smile on her face that Abby returned.

‘Ok?’ Abby whispered softly and Sarah nodded. Abby could feel her smiling into her chest. Sarah got a bit embarrassed and put some of her clothes back on then she climbed back into the bed to be with Abby.


	27. Ashlyn's Clothes

They fell asleep together. Sarah woke some hours later, she wondered what had woken her and realised that she was sore. She tried to snuggle into Abby and ignore it but the soreness wouldn’t go way. She gently unravelled from Abby making sure not to wake her and went to the bathroom.

 

She silently closed the door and went to the toilet, she wasn’t surprised to see she had dried blood in her underwear and wished she had been more prepared and had some more underwear and a change of clothes with her. She sat on the edge of the bath hoping that the pain would subside a bit. The door suddenly flew open and Ashlyn came in.

 

They both jumped as they saw each other ‘oh shit sorry!’ Ashlyn said backing out

 

‘It’s fine, come in’ Sarah said quietly ‘I was just going back to bed’

 

‘Are you ok?’ Ashlyn asked she found it a little odd that Sarah was here late at night sat on the side of the bath by herself.

 

Sarah hesitated then decided to ask for Ashlyn’s help ‘erm I’ve got blood in my underwear and a bit of pain, I just feel like I want to get cleaned up and put some fresh underwear on but I don’t have any’

 

‘Oh’ Ashlyn said thoughtfully she had noticed the elastic band on the door of Abby’s room and had wondered if perhaps something had happened. Sarah had never stayed over before. She decided to pretend to Sarah that she thought she meant her period was giving her issues.

 

‘Well why don’t you have a bath, the water system is very quiet so it won’t wake Abby. You’ll feel cleaner and it should soothe any pains that you’re having. My sponsor Ethika send me a lot of underwear, the last lot they sent had some high legs – so not my thing! I’ll go and get you a pair of them’ she said and then started running the bath for Sarah.

 

‘Thanks Ashlyn’ Sarah grinned shyly and Ashlyn grinned back.

 

Ashlyn soon came back with some black underwear for Sarah ‘see what I mean way too girly for me’ she said pulling a face and Sarah laughed which is what Ashlyn hoped for ‘need anything else?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘No thank you this is perfect’ Sarah replied

 

‘Ok well if you need any tampons or pads they’re in that cabinet up there’ she hesitated for a moment ‘though don’t use a tampon unless you’re actually on your period’ she added feeling a bit embarrassed but she didn’t want Sarah risking TSS thinking it was ok or in any way useful to put in a tampon after having sex for the first time.

 

Sarah nodded ‘ok, thanks again Ashlyn’

 

‘No worries’ she replied ‘just come and knock at my door if you need anything ok?’

 

‘Thanks’ she said again shyly and Ashlyn gave her a wink and a cheeky grin.

 

Sarah soon returned to bed feeling much more soothed. She fell asleep again. In the morning she woke up to Abby leaving the room to use the bathroom. Sarah quickly pulled her clothes from yesterday on. She didn’t want Abby to see she had changed her underwear in case she asked why. She was embarrassed about the bleeding even though she knew it was normal.

 

Abby came back into the room ‘oh hey’ she said surprised to see Sarah up and dressed. She was a bit worried in case Sarah was leaving because she was upset. But Sarah sat down on the bed and smiled at Abby looking happy.

 

Abby came over to her and they hugged ‘I need some clean clothes’ Sarah said to her

 

‘I really don’t want you to go home’ Abby replied ‘mind you though I think unfortunately you’d look a bit silly in my clothes, we are such different sizes. I know I’ll ask Ashlyn if you can borrow something of hers’

 

Abby and Sarah went out to find Ashlyn. She said nothing about last night and neither did Sarah ‘hey Ash, do you have any clean clothes? Sarah wants to get changed but doesn’t want to go home yet’

 

‘Hmm I really need to do some laundry actually, I’ll go and have a look in my room’ she said and wandered off she came back a few minutes later.

 

‘Yeah sorry I really am low on clothes, I was going to do laundry this afternoon. I’ve got some of my football shorts and one of my own designed shirts that get sold to fans in a size ‘S’ that is too small for me. They're both clean’

 

‘That’s perfect’ Sarah said as Ashlyn handed her the clothes ‘thanks Ashlyn’ She went off to Abby’s room to get changed, and saw that Ashlyn had discreetly put another pair of the Ethika high legs inside the shorts pocket. She smiled to herself glad that Ashlyn was so thoughtful.

 

Sarah came out a few minutes later, Ashlyn’s shorts were a bit big for her but other than that she looked fine and Ashlyn told her so with a smirk 'you look so cute in that'.

 

Abby looked at Sarah wearing the shirt with “Ashlyn” written on it. She didn’t like it, she didn’t know why but having Sarah wearing a shirt with “Ashlyn” written on it made her feel like Sarah was owned by Ashlyn and her property when she wasn’t at all. She kept her mouth shut but wasn’t happy.

 

Ali came over at that point, she let herself in through the sliding doors and was surprised to see Sarah already there ‘hey’ she said to everyone. Abby watched Ali very carefully to see how she reacted to Sarah wearing Ashlyn’s clothes with Ashlyn’s name on them. She was glad to see that Ali actually looked quite annoyed ‘nice choice of clothes Sarah’ Ali said

 

‘Oh I stayed over so needed something to wear, Abby’s clothes are way too big for me’ Sarah explained

 

‘Ahh right’ Ali said and Abby kept watching her, she could see that Ali wasn’t comfortable either. They went out for the day and had a nice time, but something wasn’t normal. Neither Ashlyn or Sarah could put a finger on why, but they just dismissed it and hoped everything would be normal again the next day.

 

Abby checked social media that night, she tried to avoid it as best she could as unfortunately there seemed to be a lot of speculation and negativity towards the four of them. They had never confirmed their relationships as they thought that would make everything even worse.

 

As she expected a fan had taken a photo of them out that day. Ashlyn and Sarah were next to each other in the photo and Ashlyn’s name was visible on the shirt. The shot was zoomed in and Abby and Ali who were actually on either side of the Sarah and Ashlyn less than 10cm away had been edited out of the photo. It was total shit stirring making it seem like the photo had been taken without Ali or Abby even being present.

 

There were several comments from people all saying that it seemed they had got it wrong and it was actually Ashlyn and Sarah that must be together or at least “fucking”, and not Abby with Sarah and Ashlyn with Ali. It really annoyed Abby and she felt far worse than she had done before.


	28. And so it finally begins...

Ali called Sarah that night as soon as she was home.

 

‘Hey!’ Ali said ‘we didn’t get a chance to be by ourselves today’

 

‘I know’ Sarah said and Ali could tell she was grinning. Sarah knew exactly what Ali was going to ask her

 

‘Soooo last night’ Ali asked avoiding getting straight to the point ‘Are you officially together now?’

 

‘We are’ Grinned Sarah

 

‘Aww! Finally was she sweet to you and very understanding?’ Ali asked

 

‘Oh god very, I wish I had realised a while ago, I feel like I’ve caused her quite a lot of pain by continually saying no, and myself as well, I was so disappointed yesterday’

 

‘I’m so pleased for you’ Ali said beaming ‘so you stayed the whole night though, anything you want to tell me about that?’ Ali asked finally getting to the point.

 

‘It happened’ Sarah said quite shyly

 

‘Oh my god!’ Ali exclaimed. She semi realised that something could have happened last night but hearing that it actually had seemed strange ‘did you go the whole way?’ Ali asked unable to help herself

 

‘Yes’ giggled Sarah

 

‘Fuck really? What was it like?’ Ali asked absolutely mesmerised.

 

‘It was weird!’ Sarah confirmed ‘one thing just led to another and suddenly I felt very comfortable and very ready. I enjoyed it but between you and me fuck it hurts. I can still feel it’

 

‘Wow, was she too rough with you?’ Ali asked

 

‘No, I don’t think so, I think I was quite demanding and well I just think that is how it is the first time, hopefully it gets a lot easier now’ Sarah said

 

Ali realised she was getting a bit personal she congratulated Sarah again on finally being with Abby and then said good night.

 

After reading social media Abby went back out into the front room. She wasn’t tired yet. Ashlyn was sat there. She grinned suggestively at Abby.

 

‘Anything you wanna tell me?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Shut up wanker, as if you can’t work it out’ Abby said grinning

 

‘So really you did it? All the way?’ Ashlyn asked her eyebrows raised. She sort of knew already it had happened but was surprised, she thought she and Ali would get there first.

 

‘All the way’ Abby confirmed and couldn’t help smirking. Ashlyn smirked too and high fived Abby

 

‘How was it?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Fucking amazing’ Abby said

 

‘You were sweet to her and gentle weren’t you Abby?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Of course!’ Abby said and then unable to resist added ‘fuck she is so tight Ashlyn, what a turn on’

 

‘Yeah I bet’ Ashlyn said with a smirk ‘so nothing to everything all in one night’

 

‘Yeah, I did not see that coming’ Abby confirmed

 

And Ashlyn smirked at her again and went off to bed.

 

 

For the next few days Abby wanted Sarah to herself. She kept making plans for just her and Sarah. Ali certainly wasn’t disappointed. She had thought a bit more about taking things to the next step with Ashlyn and felt that this could be the perfect moment.

 

‘Do you want to come over tonight?’ Ashlyn asked ‘Abby and Sarah are going to a concert in the city so they won’t be back tonight’

 

‘Ooh’ Ali said with a cheeky grin ‘well I could do’ she smiled

 

‘Good’ Ashlyn said returning the smile. She couldn’t help but have their conversation of before on her mind.

 

‘Remember our conversation in my room?’ Ali asked

 

‘Erm yeah’ Ashlyn said trying not to sound too excited

 

‘Well I think tonight might be that night’ she said and winked walking off to leave Ashlyn in a state of excitement.

 

Several hours later Ali was in her bedroom sitting in her bath robe. She had just had a shower and was trying to decide what to wear ‘hmm should I wear a dress so she can just lift it up or should I wear shorts, where she’ll have to undress me, I quite like the idea of her undressing me’

 

She decided to go with a dress, it would just be easier this time and then when she was actually going to let Ashlyn inside her she would wear shorts or jeans so Ashlyn could undress her properly.

 

When Ashlyn came to the door to collect Ali she was again bowled over by how beautiful Ali was in her soft pink dress ‘ _wow am I really this lucky that I’m gonna get to lick her pussy later’_ Ashlyn wondered to herself.

 

She took Ali to the car opened the door for her as usual and they did the short drive to Ashlyn’s house in silence which was unusual for them. Once at Ashlyn’s house they both stood awkwardly in the kitchen not really looking at each other but just grinning shyly at the ground.

 

‘Are you gonna invite me to sit down?’ Ali asked

 

‘Oh fuck of course’ Ashlyn said taking Ali through to the front room.

 

They sat down and again there was an awkward silence ‘this is just silly’ laughed Ali

 

‘I know!’ Ashlyn said ‘I can’t explain what’s happened to me!’

 

Ali giggled ‘kiss me idiot’ she said and Ashlyn obliged. It really helped to ease the awkwardness. Ashlyn started to let her hands wonder over Ali, stroking and feeling her eventually her hands came to rest on Ali’s breasts. She gently stroked and squeezed them feeling her nipples go hard.

 

Slowly she started to work her hand down Ali’s body and onto her thigh. Very slowly she started to snake her hand up Ali’s thigh, she gently tickled the area just before her panties and then moved her fingers the last little bit until she was touching them. Ali pulled away from the kiss which worried Ashlyn that she had gone too far. She wanted this but she wanted Ali to feel right about it more.

 

‘Are you ok’ she softly whispered to Ali looking right into her eyes

 

Ali nodded and gave a small smile ‘you won’t put your fingers inside will you?’ she asked just wanting some reassurance

 

Ashlyn shook her head ‘are you comfortable for me to carry on? We can just kiss and cuddle if you prefer’

 

‘I’m fine to carry on honestly’ Ali confirmed and went back to making out with Ashlyn. She felt Ashlyn’s hand on her panties for the first time. She felt her gently squeeze her and stroke her, it felt wonderful.

 

‘Mmm somebody is very wet’ Ashlyn said grinning

 

‘I can’t help it’ Ali laughed ‘this is wonderful. Erm do I need to take off all my clothes?’ Ali asked a little nervously

 

‘Not this time’ Ashlyn said, she knew Ali was body confident but it was hard to take off all your clothes with someone, and Ali had enough to worry about.

Ashlyn slipped her fingers underneath Ali’s panties and properly touched Ali in between her legs for the first time. Ali gasped and kissed Ashlyn deeper.

 

Ashlyn loved how Ali felt she was so wet. She tickled her lips gently with her finger tips and gently tugged on her inner lips, then she pushed her finger between the lips and onto Ali’s clit.

 

‘MMMMM’ Ali moaned loudly and threw her head back ‘fuck carry on Ashlyn’ she gasped enjoying feeling Ashlyn’s fingers working their magic on her.

 

Ashlyn pulled her hand away and Ali opened her eyes and looked like she was about to protest when she felt Ashlyn’s hands tug at her waistband. She knew now that Ashlyn was going to remove her underwear and then go down on her. She knew how good her fingers felt and couldn’t wait to experience her tongue. The both found it very sexy removing Ali’s underwear and then Ashlyn lifting her dress. It was quite dark in the room but she enjoyed seeing Ali again. She hadn’t seen her since their first date when Ali had shown her body. It was even more beautiful than Ashlyn remembered.

 

She gently pressed her lips to Ali’s lower stomach and then kissed her way down until she came to her lips she softly continued to kiss her and then gently pushed her tongue between the lips straight onto Ali’s clitoris

 

‘Fuck!’ Ali cried out ‘fuck that feels amazing’ as Ashlyn stiffened her tongue and began flicking her clit. She alternated between softly kissing the lips, then gentle licks to Ali’s clit and then licking a bit harder. Ali was crying out now and had her fingers in Ashlyn’s hair pushing her head into her grinding into her face. Ashlyn could feel that Ali was getting close now and she would need to do something more rhythmic to get her off. She pushed Ali’s lips back with her fingers and then flicked her clitoris with her tongue until Ali’s screaming became one long cry out of Ashlyn’s name.

 

‘Oh wow fuck fuck fuck’ Ali said loosening her grip on Ashlyn’s hair ‘why did I wait so long for this?’

 

Ashlyn came back up Ali’s body so that she was head level with her again. She pulled Ali onto her and Ali panted into her neck ‘it was so good because you were ready’ Ashlyn grinned

 

‘I want to have sex’ Ali said suddenly stopping her nuzzling of Ashlyn’s neck and looking lustfully into her eyes ‘put your fingers in me’ she said

 

Ashlyn grinned and shook her head ‘no can do, just third base for us tonight, I want to see how you are tomorrow and make sure that you are really ready for the next step’

 

‘You’re mean!’ Ali told her but she wasn’t really mad she knew Ashlyn was right and she knew Ashlyn would like nothing more than to push her fingers into her now, she loved it that she didn’t just take the opportunity. Ali enjoyed teasing Ashlyn about it though.

 

‘Ashlyn come on’ Ali whined ‘anyone would think you’d never done this before’

 

Ashlyn grinned and didn’t take the bait ‘sorry’ she said smiling and shaking her head ‘there won’t be any finger fucking happening in here tonight’


	29. Doubts

Ali phoned Sarah when she got home and they giggled together at Ali taking the next step then had a more serious conversation.

 

‘Were you worried Abby would lose interest after you had done the deed?’ Ali asked Sarah

 

‘Yes very, a little bit of me always felt it was just about her wanting to get sexual with me and she never really wanted a relationship with me. I was wrong though, she's been 100 times more attentive and sweet to me since we did it’ Sarah replied

 

‘Yeah I feel the same, even though I haven’t gone the whole way yet I don’t feel that Ashlyn saw it as some kind of goal and now she’ll get bored of me’ Ali said

 

‘Oh my god! She’d never get bored of you! If anyone needs to worry about that it is her. They should be grateful to have us and I think they are. We made them wait a long time for us and it has paid off, they did put in the time and we did put out’ Sarah told Ali

 

Abby and Ashlyn’s discussion had been very different, again there had a been a high five and a lot of smirking.

 

‘Fuck she tasted so good’ Ashlyn said lying back on the sofa closing her eyes and looking very content

 

‘Have you ever been so horny?’ Abby asked

 

‘Never!’ Ashlyn confirmed

 

‘Just wait till you’ve got that tight pussy wrapped around your fingers Harris’ Abby said and they both smirked to each other again.

 

Just less than a week later in training the four were playing a 5 a side match. Abby and Sarah were on the same team against Ali and Ashlyn. Sarah was being tried in a striking position even though the coach was quite certain she was going to put her into defence.

 

Sarah was small and fast and took the ball down the left side and went for a shot on goal. Ashlyn came out of the goal to shut her down and they both collided. Ashlyn being gentler and less competitive than Abby grabbed hold of Sarah and pulled her down on top of her so she wouldn’t be hurt. They landed together giggling on the floor.

 

Abby again for the second time in a week found herself not liking what she was seeing between Ashlyn and Sarah. Sarah and Abby were having full sex now, whereas Ali and Ashlyn weren’t. Abby found herself thinking that Ashlyn seemed to be after a piece of the pie for herself.

 

_‘She’s done it before’_ Abby thought to herself considering times previously when Ashlyn had sex with girls after Abby had had sex with them. It slipped her mind that she had done the same, and that she had no feelings for those previous girls.

 

Abby went over to pick Sarah up off of Ashlyn, her shirt had slipped up and that’s when Abby saw it…..Sarah was wearing Ethika underwear. Abby knew Sarah wouldn’t be able to afford to buy it herself and she certainly wasn’t sponsored by them – Ashlyn was. Why on earth was Sarah wearing Ashlyn’s underwear?

 

Abby tried to put it to the back of her mind but she stewed over it for the next few days. She decided to ask Ali about it, she trusted Ali not to tell either Ashlyn or Sarah and just wanted to see if she shared her concerns.

 

It was difficult getting Ali alone, and took a few days when one evening Sarah was busy with her mom and Ali came over to the house to spend the evening with Abby and Ashlyn. Ashlyn went out in the car to pick up some beer for the three of them to enjoy. Abby watched Ashlyn leave and then she asked Ali.

 

‘Ali can I asked you something in confidence?’

 

‘Yes of course’ Ali replied surprised at Abby’s serious tone

 

‘You won’t like what I have to say, do you promise not to say anything to Sarah or Ashlyn?’ Abby asked

 

‘Yes I promise’ Ali said looking puzzled at what Abby could possibly say that she wouldn’t like.

 

‘Do you think Sarah and Ashlyn are getting friendly?’ Abby asked

 

‘What?!’ Ali exclaimed

 

Abby was half pleased by Ali’s bewildered expression, it meant that nothing was obviously happening.

 

‘I don’t know I just get this feeling that something is going on between them’ Abby said

 

‘This has come as a total surprise to me, what’s made you think that?’ Ali asked

 

‘A few things. Ashlyn always seems to be there whenever something goes wrong for Sarah such as if she trips in training or if she’s upset about something I can tell it genuinely makes Ashlyn feel bad and she wants to fix it. Sarah’s mom likes Ashlyn, and I just feel that Ashlyn really cares for her, like that time Sarah was pushed in the pool, she was sick all over Ashlyn and she didn’t mind one bit’

 

‘Really Abby just based on this you think something might be going on? Ashlyn is a really caring person and Sarah is my best friend, and her best friend’s girl so she should care about her. Would you not have looked after me if I’d been sick all over you after a traumatic incident? And if she hadn’t heard me scream that time I fell off the rocks would you not have carried me back to the car?’

 

‘Yes of course I would!’ Abby said ‘maybe I’m just being stupid’

 

‘Is there more to this?’ Ali asked

 

‘Well sort of yes’ Abby admitted ‘I felt really uncomfortable when Sarah was wearing Ashlyn’s clothes. I’m sure Ashlyn had other clean clothes, I don’t get why she had to give Sarah clothes with her name on them, it was like she was tagging Sarah as hers. I watched you and I’m sure you weren’t happy with it either’

 

Ali hesitated ‘I wasn’t actually, I can admit that did make me uncomfortable’

 

‘And today in training Ashlyn wiped Sarah out and she protected her….’ Abby said

 

‘She protects all the femmes Abby, honestly don’t read into that she’s less competitive than you’ Ali said

 

‘Yes I know, but it wasn’t just that’ Abby now hesitated

 

‘What was it?’ Ali asked

 

‘Sarah was wearing Ethika underwear, I saw it when her shirt was riding up and she quickly pulled her shirt down when I came over’ Abby said

 

Ali paused now and looked thoughtful ‘ok I really don’t have an explanation for that’

 

‘You don’t know Ashlyn like I do Ali, she previously has gone after girls I’ve been with, and she knows me and Sarah are having sex. I think she wants a piece now’ Abby said

 

Ali still looked thoughtful ‘I honestly think you’re wrong. I can feel Ashlyn loves me, and Sarah wouldn’t do that to me. If Ashlyn made a move on her, she wouldn’t just say no, she would come and tell me’

 

‘Not if she wants her too Ali’ Abby reasoned

 

‘No, I’m sorry Abby but I can’t possibly believe this. Sarah’s mom and my mom are best friends too our families are really close there is no way she would do that to me’ Ali said

 

Abby nodded, she felt bad for suggesting this to Ali ‘I must be wrong Ali, I’m just gonna keep a watch on them, don’t say anything will you?’

 

‘No I won’t, but honestly Abby I’m sure you’re wrong, I know Ashlyn loves me and I know Sarah would never ever do that to me’

 

‘I’ll fucking break both her legs if they are messing around behind our backs’ Abby said aggressively

 

Ali gave Abby a worried look then said ‘It’s horrible hearing you talk like that, it scares me that you’d hurt a femme for any reason’

 

‘No not Sarah! I mean Ashlyn. Sarah could do what she wants and I’d never hurt her. Honestly Ali I’ve never hit a girl in my life and never will. God I’ve really not explained all this well have I?’ Abby said shaking her head

 

Ali smiled ‘you have, it’s just that I can’t possibly believe any of this, I do agree with you though that the underwear thing is weird’ and the smile left Ali's face.


	30. Dodgy Plans

 

Another week passed and still Abby couldn’t relax. She kept thinking that she was seeing signs between Sarah and Ashlyn.

 

The day after Sarah had finally agreed to go out with Abby, Abby had gone to the jewellers and chosen a beautiful bracelet for her girlfriend. She had it engraved with their initials and the date.

 

Sarah wore the bracelet to training after Abby had told her that beautiful jewellery shouldn’t just sit in a box, and if it got lost or broken she would buy her another one. Megan was admiring the bracelet that Abby had bought Sarah ‘wow it’s beautiful, Abby has good taste’ then Megan giggled ‘what tiny hands you have Sarah’

 

‘I know!’ Sarah replied

 

‘Hey Ash’ Megan called and Ashlyn came over ‘line your hand up with Sarah’s’

 

Ashlyn did as she was told and held her hand up, Sarah pressed her hand against Ashlyn’s. The three of them all laughed. Ashlyn had huge goalkeeper hands that were twice the size of Sarah’s if not more.

 

‘Aww’ Ashlyn said gently and affectionately squeezing Sarah’s hand as she pulled away ‘you have princess hands’ she said

 

Abby was convinced Sarah was gazing up admiringly at Ashlyn. And the word “princess” was very much one Ashlyn used for Ali. Abby noticed Ali flinch at that choice of word.

 

‘Hey Ali, I hope you aren’t a virgin’ Megan said crossing her legs ‘fuck those fingers would hurt first time’

 

‘Eww’ Ali said ‘Megan you are always so gross’ while Ashlyn shook her head bemused.

 

Abby however was convinced that Sarah had been staring at Ashlyn in awe over her huge hands. Abby’s hands were surprisingly quite small considering her size.

 

She waited a few days until she had Ali alone again.

 

‘Have you thought anymore about what I said’ Abby asked Ali

 

‘I have yes, and honestly Abby I haven’t seen any signs. If we’re by ourselves and I suggest going to meet you two Ashlyn shows no excitement at the prospect of seeing Sarah like I’d expect her to if she secretly was in love with her’ Ali said

 

‘Yeah but maybe that’s because after we have gone to bed they are secretly meeting’ Abby said

 

Ali laughed, not scornfully but she just couldn’t believe it ‘Abby I just can’t believe this, it’s all in your head’

 

‘I really don’t think it is’ Abby said ‘honestly I wouldn’t even have told you if I didn’t think it was true. I remember the night after me and Sarah had sex Ashlyn was very interested to hear about it, she high fived me’

 

‘She high fived you?’ Ali asked disappointed, she really didn’t want to think that Ashlyn would high five someone over having sex with a virgin like they were some kind of prize.

 

‘Yeah and I’m sure she asked me if Sarah had a tight pussy’ Abby said

 

‘What?’ Ali asked even more disappointed now

 

‘I can’t be certain, I may have told her but I think she could have asked me’ Abby said

 

‘I hope she didn’t’ Ali said quietly

 

‘I really don’t like this. I want to test them, set them up I mean. You and I disappear for an evening and leave them alone then either suddenly appear or we follow or film them’ Abby said

 

‘Abby I just don’t think we need to’ Ali replied

 

‘Please’ Abby begged

 

‘Ok’ Ali sighed ‘I will disappear for an evening but I’m not having any part in spying and if you get caught then I don’t want you saying I was any part of it’

 

‘Ok, I won’t make you any part of it but thank you for helping me’ Abby said

 

Ali and Abby came up with a plan and they executed it the next day.

 

‘Hey’ Ali said arriving into training ‘Abby sorry to ask but could you help my sister Andrea with building some furniture this evening? It’s very heavy and we won’t be able to manage with just the two of us, my other sister is away’

 

‘Why didn’t you ask me?’ Ashlyn said puzzled and annoyed ‘did Andrea think I wouldn’t help her?’

 

‘No it’s not that, I just don’t like how she speaks to you Ashlyn I don’t think you should help her’ Ali said thinking how lame her excuse was.

 

‘But it might have helped to build some bridges between us’ Ashlyn complained, she was clearly hurt by not being asked which Ali hadn’t wanted at all.

 

‘Don’t be upset’ Ali said wishing she had never agreed to this

 

Ashlyn shrugged and didn’t make a big deal of it, while Abby agreed that she would go and help Andrea with Ali.

 

‘Why don’t you do a barbecue for you and Sarah this evening?’ Ali suggested ‘It’s a lovely day’

 

‘Well I could do’ Ashlyn replied ‘do you fancy that Sarah since we are both being abandoned?’

 

Sarah laughed ‘yes that sounds good, do you want to pick me up at 6.30?’

 

‘Yes ok I’ll do that’ Ashlyn said ‘do you want to bring your bikini we can make use of the pool?’

 

‘NO’ Abby said firmly ‘I don’t want her going in the pool without me being there’

 

Sarah had got more confident in the water but she still wasn’t by any means comfortable in it.

 

‘What could possibly happen to her if I’m there?’ Ashlyn said getting offended again for the second time in 5 minutes.

 

Abby actually completely trusted Ashlyn to look after Sarah in water and not take her eyes off her. She simply just did not want there to be an opportunity where Sarah would take her clothes off to get changed and Ashlyn might see.

 

‘I just don’t want her going in the water without me, it’s a big responsibility for you as our pool is deep and she can barely swim’ Abby said thinking how lame that sounded just like Ali had a few minutes ago. This lying was harder than she thought.

 

‘Ok then don’t bring your bikini’ Ashlyn said to Sarah rolling her eyes but again not making a big deal out of it.

 

Soon the plans were all made. Ashlyn would pick up Sarah at 6.30 and Abby would “pick up” Ali at 6.30. Ali was actually staying at home and Abby was going to discreetly set up a webcam in the front room and terrace where the barbecue was then spy using her tablet while parked up in her car nearby…..


	31. Abby's Wonderful Plan Unfolds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst?! Probably!

 

At 6.50 that evening Abby was sat watching and Sarah and Ashlyn made their first appearance on the webcam in the front room. They shared a joke and Sarah was laughing her head off.

 

_‘Why does she always have to laugh at Ashlyn, she isn’t that funny’_ Abby thought critically, not giving Ashlyn credit for how amusing she actually was.

 

They went off camera for a few minutes while it appeared Sarah had followed Ashlyn into the kitchen. They came back again and walked through the front room. Ashlyn opened the door onto the terrace for Sarah. Abby winced but then satisfied herself that yes she would have opened that door for Ali, and in fact both she and Ashlyn always opened any doors for girls, and usually opened the door for each other as well.

 

Ashlyn went back inside and came out with a few bottles and juices. She made some cocktails for them both which Abby could see really impressed Sarah. They were having a really good time together, instead of sitting while Ashlyn mixed the drinks and cooked the food, Ashlyn encouraged Sarah to come and stand with her and she showed her how to mix cocktails and cook food on a barbeque. Abby began to wonder if she was too controlling with Sarah, she thought she was being a good girlfriend by doing everything while Sarah sat watching but maybe it was boring for Sarah.

 

Ashlyn and Sarah sat opposite each other at the picnic bench and Abby couldn’t see what their feet were doing. Ashlyn was experimenting with the food and trying out different condiment combinations. She seemed to find one that was very good and persuaded Sarah to try it after Sarah had shaken her head a few times. Ashlyn held it to Sarah’s mouth which Abby didn’t like. She felt it was something you only do with your girlfriend - to feed them from your hand. Sarah eventually opened her mouth and let Ashlyn feed her, and Abby saw her nod her head in surprise at how nice it was.

 

Sarah then did the same to Ashlyn except she was only pretending and when Ashlyn leaned forward she slammed the burger covered in a variety of sauces into Ashlyn’s face. They were both clearly laughing their heads off.

 

Ashlyn stood up and came round to Sarah’s side she picked her up off the bench and carried her off camera. Obviously getting some kind of revenge. Abby very nearly started the engine and headed home right then. A few minutes later they came back onto the camera though both still laughing. Ashlyn rubbed Sarah’s back as she went back to her side of the picnic table.

 

They finished their food and then moved over to the swing bench that they had. Ashlyn steadied it so Sarah could easily get on then sat back herself but she sat back too hard and they both fell off. Abby could see that Ashlyn was deeply concerned about Sarah being hurt. She looked very guilty and quickly picked Sarah up. She held her and checked her for any marks, Sarah was laughing so Abby knew she was ok but Ashlyn didn’t seem to accept that she was ok. She saw Ashlyn lean over and inspect both her knees. One of them she rubbed down, sat them both down again more carefully this time, and then gently rubbed the knee again. It didn’t look like it was bleeding so Abby presumed she had just banged it slightly. Ashlyn’s elbow was grazed and bleeding and Sarah was acting concerned over that.

 

Abby was annoyed. She tried to turn the tables, and realised that if it was her and Ali then yes, she would be very annoyed at herself and upset if Ali had a bruised knee because of her. She would also be rubbing her knee. Ashlyn wiped her arm with a tissue and then sat with her hand warming Sarah’s knee. Eventually she rubbed it again and took her hand away.

 

They talked and laughed for another half hour and then Abby saw Sarah shiver. Instead of going into the house to sit or Ashlyn going inside to get Sarah something warm, Ashlyn pulled Sarah closer to her and wrapped her arms around her. Abby decided that now was the time to go home. She hadn’t seen anything convincing but she felt that if she could burst in now and find Ashlyn with her arms around Sarah then their reaction would be very telling.

 

Abby texted Ali to let her know that she had now “finished helping her sister” and was heading home where Ashlyn was sitting with her arms around Sarah because she was cold.

 

Ali didn’t feel concerned by that, she was certain Abby was wrong and felt that Ashlyn should keep Sarah warm if she was cold.

 

Abby got home quickly and silently. She looked through the sliding doors and could see that Sarah was still sat in Ashlyn’s arms. Abby suddenly burst through the patio doors onto the terrace.

 

Ashlyn and Sarah both leapt up in terror and Ashlyn grabbed Sarah and pulled her close to her wrapping her arms protectively around her, while Sarah buried herself in Ashlyn terrified that something really bad was about to happen.

 

‘Fuck you gave me a fright!’ Ashlyn said realising it was only Abby she loosened her grip on Sarah

 

‘And me’ Sarah said holding her heart and exhaling ‘think I need to change my pants after that’ Sarah’s other hand still clung to Ashlyn’s shirt and Ashlyn kept her arm around Sarah to calm the shaking girl which triggered Abby’s temper. She hadn’t meant to do anything but suddenly she snapped.

 

Neither Sarah or Ashlyn had made any attempt to move or look guilty but Abby stormed over and forcefully grabbed Sarah away from Ashlyn.

 

‘Hey!’ Ashlyn yelled ‘don’t be so rough, Why did you do that? She could have been hurt then’

 

‘Hurt?!’ Abby questioned yelling and grabbing Ashlyn by her collar and pulling her to her ‘I’ll show you what hurt is!’

 

‘What are you doing’ Ashlyn said trying to free herself from Abby but she couldn’t. Was this some kind of joke? It wasn’t funny, Abby had Ashlyn in a vice grip ‘let me go! She yelled struggling for breath as Abby was holding her so tight ‘you’re starting to really hurt me! Let go!’ she yelled again

 

Abby knee capped Ashlyn hard in the side of her leg giving her a dead leg. She yelled in pain and was barely able to hold herself up anymore.

 

Sarah saw Ashlyn’s body go limp the second Abby had knee capped her. The yell Ashlyn let out was one of real pain, Abby had really hurt her. She came over at that point to try and separate them. She didn’t understand what was happening either. But she knew if she was there then they wouldn’t get into a full on fight in case she got hurt. Abby didn’t let go of Ashlyn though so Sarah waited for a gap to appear between them and put herself in the middle of them.

 

‘Why were you cuddled up with my girlfriend?!’ Abby suddenly yelled

 

And then it twigged with Ashlyn and Sarah that Abby was having a jealous fit.

 

‘I was cold idiot!’ Sarah told Abby trying to push her back. Ashlyn also having a surge of strength from adrenalin tried to push Abby back which knocked her off balance. They all fell to the floor and someone landed on Sarah hurting her shoulder. She screamed in pain and started to cry. Sarah was really starting to toughen up a bit and ordinarily wouldn’t have made such a fuss but she knew she needed to do something to prevent them from fighting. She sobbed loudly and it worked, Abby and Ashlyn separated immediately. Abby rolled off of them both. When she turned back, both Ashlyn and Sarah were looking at her with fear in their eyes.

 

Abby realised she had made a huge mistake. These two were just as Ali said - good friends because they were both part of the same group. Sarah continued crying and holding her shoulder while Ashlyn was holding her thigh where Abby had knee capped her with tears in her eyes. It hurt so much she felt sick. Abby had used full physical force on her and they were supposed to be best friends. Ashlyn and Sarah helped each other to stand up.

 

‘Are you ok Ash? That was a savage kick, I heard it as much as I saw it, it was horrible’ Sarah said in shock

 

‘I think so’ Ashlyn nodded clearly in tremendous pain ‘I can’t take you home though’ Ashlyn said regretfully to Sarah ‘I’m well over the alcohol limit, are you ok?’ she asked Sarah ‘I want to go to my room, are you ok if I leave you alone with her?’

 

Sarah nodded she could see Ashlyn was close to tears and needed to be alone. Also Sarah had no fear of being alone with Abby, them all falling to the floor was not deliberate.

 

 

Abby wanted to say to Ashlyn that Sarah was her girlfriend and she would drive her home if she wanted to go. But she was in no position to say anything to Ashlyn at all other than an apology which she tried but Ashlyn didn’t even acknowledge her, she walked off to the house holding her leg and limping.

 

Abby tried instead to apologise to Sarah ‘listen I’ve got this wrong…just seeing you both cuddled up made me see red. I’m sor…’

 

‘Take me home!’ Sarah suddenly interrupted

 

‘No lets talk’ Abby said ‘please’ she pleaded with Sarah

 

‘No! Take me home’ Sarah said holding her shoulder and walking towards the house ‘that kick was vicious Abby, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you’d broken her leg, I don’t want to be around you anymore this evening’.

 

Abby didn’t want to admit to Sarah that she was so upset that she had sat in the car drinking to make herself feel better and she was also over the limit. If she had just said then Sarah would have been perfectly satisfied to sleep on the sofa in the front room (Abby would of course have given her the bedroom and slept on the sofa).

 

Abby didn’t though, she felt that if she told Sarah she couldn’t drive then Sarah would go to Ashlyn’s room as she wouldn’t want to spend the night with her. Abby sighed and got behind the wheel. She was annoyed and saw a light turning red but put her foot down to try and jump the light, she wanted to get Sarah home quickly so she could just get away from this night, and try to apologise to Ashlyn and make sure her leg wasn’t seriously damaged.

 

To Abby’s horror she suddenly saw blue lights behind her. She slammed her foot down and went round a corner. She stopped the car ‘run Sarah, I’m over the limit and this has nothing to do with you, get out and run, I don’t want you being dragged into the headlines’!!!!!!!!! Sarah didn’t argue she got out and ran as fast as she could. She was shaken when she got home and quickly called Ashlyn to tell her what had happened.

 

Ashlyn didn’t answer but she texted Sarah straight away ‘Are you ok, do you need me? x’ she asked hoping it wasn’t urgent. She would call Sarah back if she didn’t hear back from her straight away, she just really didn’t want to talk if she could help it.

 

‘Abby’s been caught drink driving and going through a red light. She pulled over and told me to run which I did and now I don’t know what to do x’

 

‘Oh my fucking god!!! Where are you? x’ Ashlyn quickly replied and then deciding not to wait for a reply, picked up the phone to Sarah. She had been crying but the shock had stopped her crying.

 

She got all the details from a very distressed Sarah ‘I’m gonna get in touch with Megan and get her to drive me down there. I’ll keep in close touch with you’.


	32. Doomed

Sarah called Ali. She knew she would probably be sleeping but this was important. She rang three times before Ali finally picked up ‘hello’ she said sleepily

 

‘Ali wake up!’ Sarah said urgently and Ali sat bolt up right.

 

‘Fuck what’s happened?!’ Ali asked

 

Sarah quickly explained and Ali was absolutely astonished, this was massive she knew it was going to mean big trouble for Abby. Abby’s profile was big and the press would have a field day on it.

 

Sarah and Ali both texted Ashlyn to ask her to let them know straight away what had happened. At around 4am she texted them both to say Abby was out but she was charged with DUI. They thanked her for letting them know. Sarah was still annoyed at Abby but she knew she had to push that aside. She went straight round to Abby's house as soon as it was light. Ashlyn was up and looking rough as she’d had no sleep, but Abby was fast asleep on the sofa. Ali appeared a minute later.

 

‘Wow she must be tired’ Ali said looking at Abby

 

‘She’s basically passed out’ Ashlyn told Ali. She was pissed off at Abby ‘she was quite high over the limit, I can’t believe we didn’t notice Sarah. Still it’s not our fault’

 

‘It is my fault, I made her take me home’ Sarah said

 

‘No it isn’t!’ both Ali and Ashlyn reassured her

 

‘If this wasn’t my house I’d have made her take me home too’ Ashlyn said and then turned to Ali ‘honestly Ali you have no idea, she came in here acting like a total psychopath, she came flying through the door making us both think it was someone come to kill us, then she grabbed hold of me and started trying to strangle me, knee capped me in the side of my leg as hard as she could – I swear she was aiming for my groin, and then accused me and Sarah of cheating! She wouldn’t let me go even when Sarah tried to stop her and then we all fell over and she landed on us’

 

‘She really hurt my shoulder’ Sarah said showing Ashlyn and Ali the bruise. They both looked in amazement at how bad it looked.

 

‘I hope it wasn’t me that did that’ Ashlyn said looking guilty ‘I don’t remember falling on anyone but we were all in such a heap’

 

‘It was definitely Abby’ Sarah told her

 

‘Well it’s bad but she didn’t mean to hurt you I’m sure’ Ali said feeling extremely guilty about the night before and having to act like she didn’t know what happened.

 

‘Well she definitely meant to do that’ Ashlyn said lifting the leg on her boardies to show a really huge black bruise that was darker coloured than anything Ali and Sarah had ever seen.

 

They both gasped in shock and Ali went to say something but the phone rang at that moment and they all got distracted. It was the police wanting to interview Sarah and Ashlyn about what had happened the night before. They went down to the police station leaving Ali with Abby.

 

‘If she wakes up in a bad mood Ali just leave’ Ashlyn told her ‘I won’t have her speaking badly to you’

 

Ashlyn and Sarah were both asked to sit separately and write their version of events. Their stories matched perfectly as Ashlyn didn’t want to mention that Abby had been violent to her, and neither did Sarah. Sarah wrote:

 

“My best friend Ali Krieger asked Abby Wambach to help her and her sister Andrea to build some furniture at her house. So myself and Ashlyn Harris had a barbecue back at Abby's house and were waiting for Abby and Ali to come over. Ali didn’t come, and when Abby came she accused myself and Ashlyn Harris of cheating. She was aggressive with us both and unintentionally hurt us so Ashlyn went to her room and I asked Abby to take me home. When she ran the red light she told me to leave the scene as it was nothing to do with me, and she had a high profile and didn’t want to drag me down with her as we are in a private relationship”

 

After reading the statements the police were quite confused. Abby hadn’t mentioned that she had been with an “Ali or Andrea Krieger”.

 

‘Oh’ Sarah said surprised ‘well she was definitely with them’

 

‘I think we need to speak to these Kriegers’ one of the police said

 

‘Well Ali is at my house now’ Ashlyn said ‘shall I tell her and her sister to come down?’ the police agreed that they’d like to see them.

 

In the meantime…..

 

Abby woke up, her head ached. She saw Ali sat there and was surprised ‘where are the others’ she asked sitting up holding her head

 

‘Police station giving statements. Fuck Abby this is out of control their statements won’t match yours about where you were last night, they’ll find out that I’ve lied as well and this will likely be the end of both our relationships’ Ali said

 

‘This is such a fucking mess’ Abby agreed with her head in her hands

 

Sarah and Ashlyn returned home at that point. They were both cold with Abby.

 

‘The police want to interview you and Andrea’ Ashlyn said to Ali ‘shall I take you now? We can pick up Andrea on the way’

 

‘Andrea doesn’t need to come’ Ali said quietly ‘Abby has something to tell you’ Ali said pointedly at Abby

 

‘I wasn’t with Andrea or Ali last night’ Abby said quietly

 

Sarah looked very concerned she had a horrible feeling Abby was about to tell her that she had been with another girl and that Ali had covered for her. She said nothing leaving it to Ashlyn.

 

‘Go on’ Ashlyn said coldly

 

‘I got this stupid feeling that you two were cheating behind our backs. I ran it past Ali and she completely disagreed but I managed to persuade her to put you two together without us and see what happened. Ali had absolutely no part in it whatsoever, it was all me, she didn’t believe it and she really really had nothing to do with it’ Abby said

 

‘What the fuck?’ Ashlyn asked ‘you both set us up?’

 

‘No I set you up. Ali did nothing’ Abby confirmed

 

‘Ali knew about it’ Sarah said quietly and Ali knew at that point that things were doomed not just for Abby but for her as well.

 

‘Honestly I did nothing’ Ali said her eyes welling up ‘Sarah, Ashlyn please’ Ali said going over to Ashlyn for some comfort. She got none though as Ashlyn untangled herself from Ali’s arms.

 

‘No don’t’ Ashlyn said ‘I appreciate you didn’t plan it but you must have doubted me to let Abby go ahead with this’

 

‘I didn’t believe it’ Ali said pleadingly at Ashlyn ‘that’s why I said I’d have no part in it’

 

‘What possible reason would you have to suspect me?’ Ashlyn said trying not to yell but failing ‘all the tears and pain over losing you, did you not see any of that? How hard I’ve had to work at moving past feeling like you were going to dump me again. Would I make all that effort for someone if the whole time I was carrying on with her best friend? This is really fucked up you two’ she said at Abby and Ali

 

‘We know’ Abby said ‘but really it wasn’t Ali it was me. Speak to me Sarah’

 

‘How fucking could you???’ She suddenly screamed ‘and you’ she said turning to Ali ‘you’re my best friend, our moms are best friends, your family have taken such good care of mine how could you think this of me? How could either of you think I would carry on a relationship with a woman I didn’t want and waste her time and cheat with my best friend’s girl??? Even if I did develop feelings for Ashlyn I’d never act on it, I would finish with Abby immediately and stop wasting her time, and distance myself from Ashlyn until it was no longer an issue. I’d never act on it. But this is all irrelevant, there is nothing going on with me and Ashlyn’

 

Ali sat down on the sofa at that point her head in her hands ‘are we still best friends?’ she asked Sarah

 

‘I don’t know’ Sarah replied

 

‘Are you still my girlfriend?’ Ali asked Ashlyn now deflated expecting Ashlyn to say the same as Sarah. Had she really lost everything?

 

‘I don’t know either’ Ashlyn said ‘and Abby I don’t know if you’re my best friend anymore, you really hurt me yesterday, we’re both bruised from your behaviour. I know you didn’t hurt Sarah on purpose but you did hurt me and we were meant to be best friends’

 

‘I’m sorry’ Abby muttered quietly and regretfully

 

‘Did you aim for my groin with your knee cap?’ Ashlyn asked

 

Abby hesitated and then nodded.

 

Ashlyn was horrified ‘you have no idea how strong you are, if you had managed that then I’d probably have permanent nerve damage or worse’

 

Sarah shook her head in disgust, she’d seen how hard Abby had slammed her knee into Ashlyn ‘The only thing I’m certain about right now is that Ashlyn is my friend’ Sarah confirmed letting Abby know that they were no longer together either. ‘I’m going now, and I don’t want either of you to contact me’ she said pointing at Ali and Abby. She turned to leave.

 

‘Wait I’m coming’ Ashlyn said ‘I’d rather be at your house if you don’t mind than here’ she said glaring at Ali. They both turned to leave.

 

‘She was wearing your underwear!!!’ Ali suddenly shouted as Ashlyn and Sarah reached the door

 

‘What?’ Ashlyn said puzzled and both she and Sarah stopped

 

‘Sarah was wearing your underwear. That’s the only reason I went ahead with this, I had no explanation for that and Abby was convinced you must have spent the night together’ Ali explained

 

‘Oh my god’ Ashlyn said doing a mock smile and shaking her head

 

‘You wanna know why that was Ali?’ Sarah said

 

Ali nodded ‘I’d love to hear you explain that one Sarah, and Ashlyn I’d love you to explain why you were tagging Sarah with your clothes’

 

‘I wasn’t tagging her! I gave her a shirt that would fit her, we were all going out so it was better she went out in something that would fit rather than something way too big, that’s why Abby asked me to find her some clothes in the first place. My football shorts were the only other clean shorts I had other than the ones I was wearing’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Ok I accept that’ Ali said ‘but why was she wearing your underwear?’

 

‘I’ll answer that’ Sarah said to Ali ‘your first time is weird Ali, I was in quite a mess afterwards and really sore’

 

‘You wanted to have sex Sarah’ Abby said worried that Sarah was making it sound like she had forced her

 

‘Yes’ Sarah said and held up her hands ‘I totally wanted to do it and everything has stopped hurting now, that’s why I was still at the house last night I was waiting for you to come home so we could have full sex again. Has it not even crossed your mind Abby that since the first time all I’ve let you do is tongue me?’

 

Abby shrugged ‘I just thought you preferred that’ then she went quiet ‘and I honestly felt that you might be sleeping with Ashlyn and you preferred Ashlyn’s fingers as her hands are bigger than mine’

 

Sarah rolled her eyes ‘I was very sore after the first time and Ashlyn came into the bathroom when I was there, I told her I was bleeding and wanted to change but didn’t have anything to change into so she went and got me some of the underwear from her sponsor that is too femme for her and too small for you Ali. They’re nice underwear so of course I’m going to wear them again, and yes I did pull my shirt down and hope you didn’t see that I was wearing them Abby in case you jumped to the wrong conclusion, but you must have seen, and judging from your reaction now I was right to hide them from you. So I wasn’t wearing Ashlyn’s boxers they are a completely different style but the waistband looks the same’

 

‘So you see a totally innocent explanation’ Ashlyn said

 

‘You asked Abby if Sarah was tight’ Ali said to Ashlyn clutching at straws

 

‘No I didn’t!’ Ashlyn exclaimed ‘Abby told me she was, I would never ask that’

 

‘You told her that?’ Sarah said disappointed to Abby

 

‘That’s just a butch thing Sarah, we say stupid things like that to each other’ Abby said

 

‘Well I don’t think it’s funny telling someone something so personal’ Sarah said

 

‘It isn’t’ Ashlyn said not defending Abby but she was guilty as well ‘but I do agree with Abby that is something butches do, it isn’t meant to upset you’

 

‘Well it has’ Sarah said quietly ‘I trusted you’ she said looking at Abby her eyes full of tears and then she looked away.

 

Abby felt terrible.

 

‘I just got carried away and started looking for signs that weren’t really there as well’ Ali said

 

‘Well you should have believed in us. Come on Sarah’ Ashlyn said putting her hand on the small of Sarah’s back and leading her out of the house. Ali hated that, she was used to Ashlyn only putting her hand on her there.

 

Once they were outside Ashlyn turned to Sarah ‘honestly Sarah don’t be upset by things me and Abby say to each other, she didn’t tell me anything personal. All virgins are tight and it’s just special being that first person and hard for us to convey to each other that it is special so we end up joking about it’

 

‘Ok I sort of get it’ Sarah said ‘I suppose me and Ali talk about quite personal things too’

 

‘What sort of things?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘You’ll never know’ Sarah said with a wink and then her face clouded over as she realised how bad things were. Today she had lost both her best friend and her girlfriend.

 

Back inside the house - Ali punched Abby hard after Sarah and Ashlyn left and burst into tears ‘that’s for knee capping Ashlyn’ she said and then she punched her again ‘and that’s because I hate you Abby and you’ve fucked everything’.

 

Abby grabbed hold of Ali she said ‘don’t you turn against me too, we need to stand together I’ll put this right, at least for you even if not for me’ she pulled Ali into a hug and Ali soon embraced the hug too. She realised that she and Abby would need to work together to make everything right again and Abby would really need a friend while this DUI was going on.

 

When they calmed down they went and sat on the sofa together ‘have you checked social media’ Ali asked and Abby shook her head

 

‘I think we should’ Ali said and reached for her phone. She entered “Abby Wambach” into Google. It was far worse than they thought it had made some quite big publications. Just as Abby felt it couldn’t get worse she received a phone call from the club asking her to come down. Ali went with her.

 

Fortunately the club stood by her, these things had happened before to top players. It was made very clear to Abby however that she was on her final warning, if this happened again then she would be dropped from the club.


	33. Making Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anything in brackets is for the reader's benefit and not said or thought by any of the characters.

Training the next day was awkward. It was a hot day so it was impossible for Sarah and Ashlyn to wear the kind of clothes they had wanted to wear to hide the bruising from two nights ago. A lot of journalists were hanging around trying to get shots of Abby and the others and trying to find out what had happened. Ali and Abby stood together and Ashlyn and Sarah did too, they totally blanked Ali and Abby even though they had both tried to talk to them.

 

The next day was training again and when Ali and Abby arrived Megan appeared holding the local newspaper ‘have you read this Abby?’ she asked handing her the paper

 

The article said “Abby Wambach charged with DUI on Saturday night and running a red light, appears to have beaten her partner Sarah Huffman and close friend Ashlyn Harris. Both were viewed at training on Monday keeping a distance from Wambach with visible bruising”

 

Abby read the article her face one of horror. She walked over to Ashlyn and Sarah ‘promise me neither of you talked to the press?’ she asked

 

‘We didn’t’ Ashlyn said and Sarah shook her head and they left the room ‘keep away from us please’ Ashlyn added as they left the room.

 

Abby watched them leave ‘I just can’t believe all this, them saying Sarah is my partner when they don’t know that, and saying that I hit her, it was all some dumb journalist speculating’

 

‘I know, you did hurt Ashlyn though and you shouldn’t have done that, I know you’re both butch but you knew she wouldn’t be able to stop you’ Ali wanted to stand up for Abby but she was angry about Abby hurting Ashlyn

 

‘I just saw red when they were cuddled together. Fuck I gave them such a fright. You’ve got a good woman in Ashlyn, Ali, her instincts were all to protect Sarah she didn’t care about herself’

 

‘Had a good woman’ Ali reminded Abby ‘fuck I miss her, and Sarah too I have to have them both back in my life’ she said and started to cry. Abby put her arm around her.

 

‘I miss them too, Sarah is the love of my life I’m sure of it we have to get them back. What should we do?’ Abby asked

 

‘For now I think give them the distance they asked for, I know it hurts but they will stop being angry and they will miss us, they love us so even though they’re hurt they will soften’

 

‘Shall we approach them just once together every morning and ask if they’ll talk to us?’ Abby asked Ali ‘I agree with giving them space but I want to give them opportunities too’

 

Ali nodded and from the next day at training and every day for five days they asked Ashlyn and Sarah to please talk to them and each day they refused.

 

After the fifth time Abby spoke to Ali ‘they aren’t thawing Ali, I think we should stop asking it isn’t working’

 

Ali agreed and on day 6 Ali and Abby didn’t approach Ashlyn and Sarah. This reverse tactic worked a treat and Ashlyn and Sarah did not like the feeling that they had lost interest.

 

Abby and Ali tried not to stare over at Ashlyn or Sarah when they could see them looking ‘do you reckon they’re fucking?’ Abby suddenly asked Ali

 

‘Abby shut it!!! Come on this is what started all of this they aren’t sleeping together now and they weren’t before’ Ali said in despair

 

‘I know, it’s just Ashlyn is horny all the time and Sarah’s not a virgin anymore and….’

 

‘Abby just stop!’ Ali said standing up ‘you need to get a grip now or we will scare them off for good. Come on lunch is over let’s get back to training’

 

A match was on for that afternoon and Abby and Ali were on the same team, with Sarah and Ashlyn on the other team. Ali was in such a bad mood she found herself being very offensive and had a few shots on Ashlyn that she managed to save.

In the final 10 minutes Ali had another good shot on target. Unfortunately Ashlyn’s studs got caught in the ground and her leg got stuck, Ali hit the ball very hard and it smashed into Ashlyn’s bruised leg.

 

‘Ow Fuck!’ Ashlyn yelled holding her leg

 

Ali gasped ‘fuck sorry!’ her hand over her mouth in dismay at what had happened. She came over to Ashlyn ‘I’m really sorry, that was a total accident are you alright?’

 

‘Go away Ali’ Ashlyn said

 

Sarah had come over by now and was inspecting Ashlyn’s bruised leg.

 

‘But I really am sorry’ Ali said.

 

‘I don’t care Ali! Just go I don’t want you here!’ Ashlyn replied and Ali looked so hurt that Ashlyn immediately regretted it. Ali turned to walk away ‘I didn’t mean that’ Ashlyn said quietly after her. Ashlyn saw Ali slow down slightly as she walked away but she continued to walk off without looking back.

 

In the last 2 minutes Ali was back in the defence again not wanting to have any further contact with Ashlyn. One of the strikers on Ashlyn’s team got the better of Ali much to her annoyance she didn’t take it though and kept going with the striker. Unfortunately Ali fell to the ground and the striker accidentally stamped on her hand.

 

Ali cried out with pain and continued to stay on the ground sobbing holding her hand. Ashlyn and Sarah both looked at each other with sadness at seeing Ali in pain. Abby walked down the pitch to comfort Ali. She picked her up and hugged her putting her warm hand over Ali’s sore fingers.

 

‘Are you ok’ She asked her very tenderly holding her tight, Ali nodded. Abby suspected that it really hurt but the tears were all about the Ashlyn and Sarah thing and how neither of them had come to comfort her even though they had both been far closer to Ali thaAbby had ‘can you carry on for another minute until full time or do you want to go off?’ Abby asked her

 

‘No I’ll carry on’ Ali said still sniffing Abby squeezed her affectionately and headed off back down the field. Ali continued to hold her sore hand with her other hand until the whistle blew. Abby came straight to her the second it blew and took Ali straight to the training room to get her hand seen to then Abby went and got their bags. Fortunately there was no damaged to Ali’s hand.

 

‘Come on let’s go’ Abby said carrying both their bags with one hand and put her arm around Ali with her other hand leading her to the car her mouth was pursed, Ali could see she was angry and Abby let it out when they got in the car ‘I’m so angry at Ashlyn and Sarah for not comforting you, that was just downright mean’

 

‘I am too’ Ali admitted

 

Abby shook her head ‘come on I’ll take you home’ she said.

 

Ashlyn approached Sarah straight after the game, they both watched as Abby lead Ali quickly off the pitch ‘do you think she’s ok?’ Ashlyn asked Sarah

 

‘I’m really not sure’ Sarah replied

 

‘It looked very sore and I have to admit I feel bad for leaving her crying on the floor’ Ashlyn said and Sarah nodded.

 

They headed to Ashlyn’s house. Abby was staying at her mother’s place mostly at the moment to avoid any awkwardness with Ashlyn.

 

After an hour of silence Sarah finally spoke ‘I miss them’ she said quietly.

 

‘Me too’ Ashlyn confirmed ‘I really wanted to comfort Ali earlier and now I’ve had time to digest it all I sort of get it. Would I like to see Ali in an “Abby” shirt – no, and if she was wearing what I thought was Abby’s underwear I’d probably be furious too and start to wonder about things’

 

‘I want Ali back’ Sarah said ‘I think we’ve been unfair to her, and I’m ready to listen to Abby’

 

‘Shall I text Ali?’ Ashlyn asked and Sarah nodded ‘what shall I say?’

 

‘Ask her where she is and if she’s ok’ Sarah said

 

‘Shall I put a kiss?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Yes, Ali’s a sweet girl she always deserves kisses’ Sarah said and Ashlyn grinned fondly, she really missed her girl

 

“Where are you, are you alright? X” Ashlyn sent to Ali

 

“Just at home, I’m ok just bruised no damage done. Where are you? x” Ali immediately replied

 

“At Sarah’s, we want to speak to you x”

 

“Coming! I can’t tell you how pleased I am that you’ll speak to me x” Ali replied instantly

 

Ashlyn hesitated ‘hmm shall I tell her we’ll go to her? It’s getting dark I don’t want her walking by herself especially after what happened to Syd and that time Ali was attacked at the tennis courts’

 

Sarah nodded and they texted Ali to tell her that they were coming to her. She was waiting at the gate when they arrived, she hesitated and gave a small smile unsure how they were both going to be with her. As soon as Sarah saw Ali she pulled her into her arms and they both sobbed

 

‘Let’s put this behind us’ Sarah said and she kissed Ali’s injured hand ‘I know now that you never doubted me and it did look suspicious that I was wearing her underwear’

 

‘I just can’t tell you how relieved I am I needed you back, I’ve been miserable without my best friend’ Ali said

 

‘You’ve really taken the fall out of all this, it was Abby not you’ Ashlyn said

 

‘I know but I didn’t stop her’ Ali replied looking up at Ashlyn and feeling so relieved to even have her say something to her.

 

Sarah looked at Ashlyn and she could see that Ashlyn wanted to stop all this too she wanted Ali back ‘Ash do you want to drop me home and then you and Ali can talk?’

 

Ashlyn agreed at once and Ali mouthed “thank you” to Sarah, she really wanted some time with Ashlyn ‘actually lets go to your house Ashlyn, Abby won’t be there she’s still staying at her mom’s’

 

All three of them knew then that Ali had an interesting making up plan for Ashlyn.

 

They dropped Sarah home and were soon sat on the sofa at Ashlyn’s

 

‘I’m so sorry’ Ali started ‘Abby just approached me suddenly one evening and came out with this bizarre idea that you and Sarah were together behind our backs, and that you knew they’d had sex and wanted to get in on the action. I honestly refused to believe it but it was after the underwear thing that I agreed I would disappear for the evening, I had no part in anything else’

 

‘I get that now, I’d be upset too if you were wearing what appeared to be Abby’s underwear. It all just blew out of proportion and I’m sorry that Sarah and I let it go this long without putting things right with you. We’ve been miserable and I’m sure you have too’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Is your hand honestly ok? I felt horrible for not coming over. I promise you Sarah and I both looked at each other and were very upset that you were hurt’ Ashlyn said holding Ali’s hand in her warm hands

 

Ali nodded ‘It’s fine I can barely feel it and I’m so grateful that you’re talking to me. Are we together again?’

 

Ashlyn nodded ‘third time lucky’ she said with a grin

 

‘Lucky eh?’ Ali said and she climbed onto Ashlyn and made out with her ‘I’ll show you what lucky is’ she started to unbutton Ashlyn’s shirt

 

‘Is this going where I think it’s going’ Ashlyn asked grinning

 

‘Where do you think it’s going?’ Ali asked suggestively

 

‘I’d like to think to third base (oral sex)’ Ashlyn said

 

Ali shook her head ‘guess again’

 

‘First base (kissing)?’ Ashlyn asked ‘oh wait no we’ve already got to first base this evening….er second base (touching breasts)?’

 

‘Nope try again’ Ali said ‘this is your last guess’

 

‘Fourth base (full sex)?’ Ashlyn asked frowning slightly and Ali nodded

 

‘Wow Ali are you sure? You don’t need to do this to get me back, you never lost me really and you know I’m back don’t you? I don’t want to do anything because you think I expect it’

 

‘No, no I’m ready I have been for a while really I just didn’t want to rush it…….’


	34. At Last!!!!

‘Well let’s just see how we go and you can stop at any time. Just move my hands or tell me ok?’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Ok’ Ali said with a beautiful shy smile and Ashlyn could not believe her luck ‘carry me to bed’ she whispered and Ashlyn did as she was told they lay on Ashlyn’s bed and kissed some more. Ali finished unbuttoning Ashlyn’s shirt and slipped it off her shoulders she looked down at her toned six pack liking what she saw very much.

 

Ashlyn pulled Ali’s top over her head being careful not to mess up her hair, she reached round and undid her bra ‘Ok?’ Ashlyn whispered softly and waited for a nod before removing it.

 

She also took time to enjoy the view and then began stroking and massaging Ali’s body she gently kissed down the front of her chest to her breasts and began to gently kiss and suck them ‘mmmmm’ Ali moaned and she undid Ashlyn’s sports bra, she had beautiful breasts and Ali enjoyed feeling her nipples get hard as she stroked and squeezed them.

 

Ashlyn began to kiss her way down Ali’s ribs tickling them as she went making Ali gasp with pleasure, she continued kissing lower and when she reached her lower stomach she unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans opening them at the top to see her beautiful lace underwear. She gently removed Ali’s jeans leaving her just in her underwear she slipped her hand inside from the top and worked it lower she wanted to see how wet Ali was and was pleased to discover that she was ready for her.

 

She removed her lace underwear then removed her own jeans and boxers, she lay on top of Ali and put her leg in between Ali’s legs. She rubbed against her pussy while making out with her. Ali loved feeling her against her, Ashlyn’s thigh was right against her clit gently rubbing it up and down.

 

Ashlyn couldn’t wait anymore she needed to taste Ali she worked her way down her body again and pressed her mouth to Ali’s lips. She kissed and tugged on the lips then pushed them apart with her fingers and tickled her clitoris with her tongue. Ali was loving it and grinding into Ashlyn’s face. Ashlyn pulled away slowly and she put her finger to Ali’s opening ‘do you want to try?’ she asked

 

‘Will it hurt a lot?’ Ali asked looking a bit unsure.

 

‘It will a bit unfortunately, but I’ll be very gentle, we don’t have to do anything if you just want kisses’ Ashlyn told her

 

Ali considered ‘I’m ready, I think it’s time just please be very careful with me’

 

Ashlyn nodded. She pushed Ali’s inner lips far apart just opening it up a bit, Ali felt it stretch and it hurt a little bit.

 

Ashlyn felt her flinch. She put her spare hand into Ali’s hand and Ali clutched at it and squeezed

 

Ashlyn put her finger to the opening and pushed forwards Ali was very wet and Ashlyn hoped one finger would go in quite easily and it did. She pushed her finger in and then held it in place getting Ali used to it ‘how’s that?’ she whispered

 

‘Ok so far it barely hurts’ Ali said relieved ‘fuck with me with it’

 

And Ashlyn did as Ali commanded she gently slid her finger in and out, it made a wet noise as it slid in and out ‘is it meant to sound like that?’ Ali asked and giggled. Ashlyn was glad it had eased the mood

 

‘Completely normal and very sexy, it shows I’m doing it right’ Ashlyn said winking at Ali

 

‘mmmmm’ Ali moaned ‘I love how it feels’

 

Ashlyn wiggled her finger around a little bit trying to stretch her hymen. She saw Ali’s face screw up a little bit in pain ‘ready to try two?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Ready as I think I’ll ever be’ Ali said grinning nervously

 

Ashlyn pushed her two fingers to the opening and then pushed harder

 

‘Ow!’ Ali cried out and pushed Ashlyn’s hand away ‘Megan was right, your hands are too big’

 

‘Sorry’ Ashlyn said with a wry grin ‘do you want to stop there for today and I’ll tickle your clit with my tongue?’

 

‘Mmm sounds sexy’ Ali grinned ‘but I really want to do this’

 

Ashlyn nodded and she tried again, she pushed her two fingers just inside the opening and stopped as Ali flinched, she held them there for another few seconds and then pushed harder ‘owwww’ Ali cried out she grabbed Ashlyn’s wrist but didn’t push it away she just held it to make sure Ashlyn didn’t push in any further. The pain slowly eased and Ali let her push in further, Ali was so wet that Ashlyn’s fingers slid quite easily up into her.

 

‘It hurts’ she whispered softly and Ashlyn kissed her and stroked her face

 

‘It is hurting less?’ Ashlyn asked and Ali nodded. She began to slowly pull her fingers out again then gently pushed them in ‘ohh’ Ali said again but it was a mixture of pain and pleasure this time. Ashlyn tickled her clitoris a bit more with her thumb to make sure she kept Ali wet as she continued gently pushing in and out, she didn’t get any harder with her fingers and focussed on Ali’s clit gently stroking it back and forward while Ali cried out in pleasure her breathing got short and then she screamed in pleasure as she came soaking Ashlyn’s hand.

 

Ashlyn grinned and gently removed her fingers from Ali. Ali grabbed her hand before Ashlyn had a chance to discreetly wipe it somewhere.

 

‘Ewww’ Ali said seeing the blood on Ashlyn’s fingers

 

‘Aww’ Ashlyn said ‘it’s not eww at all that is beautiful’

 

‘I’m glad you think so’ Ali said grinning Shyly as Ashlyn held her ‘wow I can’t believe I’m not a virgin anymore’

 

‘Are you sore?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘A little’ Ali said honestly ‘but it isn’t bothering me’ she looked down ‘oh my god! There’s blood on your sheets!’ Ali exclaimed looking guilty ‘I’m really sorry, are they ruined?’

 

‘No!’ Ashlyn said holding her close ‘nothing matters other than how you feel’

 

‘Thanks’ Ali grinned Shyly

 

‘How about a nice warm bath together?’ Ashlyn asked knowing that is just what Ali would need now.

 

‘Oh that sounds perfect’ Ali said enthusiastically and Ashlyn carried her off to the bathroom.

 

Ali and Ashlyn were soon both in pyjamas in bed. Ali was staying over and proud to be wearing one of Ashlyn’s shirts ‘feel tagged?’ Ashlyn asked

 

And Ali grinned ‘yep I do, it’s a nice feeling’

 

Ashlyn kissed her then she sighed, Ali looked up ‘what’s wrong?’ she asked

 

‘Nothing, everything is nearly perfect’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Only nearly? You just fucked a beautiful virgin and things are only nearly perfect’ grinned Ali

 

‘Oh that part is perfect, I just found Abby drifting into my thoughts’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Ahh yeah, what are you going to do about that? Are you still mad?’ Ali asked

 

‘Not like I was, I mean me and Sarah had a really good heart to heart about it all and we knew we were wrong to accuse you, but Abby did fuck up here, but she is my best friend and I want her back as my best friend’

 

Ali grinned ‘she’ll be so glad to hear that, I’ve really got to know Abby over the last few weeks, she's a good caring person, she's hot headed but so tender with Sarah’

 

‘Sarah has been so good for her, such a calming influence. Sarah wants her back’ Ashlyn said ‘I hope she’s made contact with Abby this evening’

 

‘Wow Abby will be absolutely over the moon if she has, she misses her and loves her. She knows things will need to be different now, her temper meant that Sarah indirectly was hurt and she’s not happy about that. She also got a final warning at the club over the DUI, and between you and me she cried over the bruise she gave you because of the shame she feels over it’ Ali said

 

‘Wow Abby cried?’ Ashlyn exclaimed ‘that is bad’

 

‘She feels horrible and she wants her best friend and girlfriend back. Will you give her a call in the morning and tell her to come home?’ Ali asked

 

Ashlyn hesitated and then she nodded ‘I will, and I think she will find that if she goes round to see Sarah afterwards, things will all work out there as well. Though maybe they have made contact already’.


	35. In the meantime....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay, my ideas are starting to dry up now. I'm going to get some ideas by reading some other things and then doing my take on it. Just a short chapter this time.

Sarah smiled to herself as she watched Ali and Ashlyn drive away. She knew Ashlyn loved Ali, and if things were moving forward with them then Ashlyn would be sweet to her.

 

Then the smile left Sarah’s face as she thought of her own relationship in tatters. She thought about Abby and how kind she had always been to her. The savage knee cap she had given Ashlyn had been because Abby had felt that she was losing Sarah and she desperately didn’t want to. Sarah understood now, it had been a statement of love not anger. She made the decision to text Abby.

 

‘Hey x’ she messaged unsure what else to write. Just like Ali earlier an instant reply came back.

 

‘Hey, good to hear from you, are you ok? X’ Abby wrote and Sarah loved that she showed concern over her

 

‘Sort of x’ Sarah wrote

 

‘Are you in danger has something happened? X’ Abby wrote in a panic and Sarah loved even more how Abby always took care of her

 

‘No nothing like that. I just miss you x’ Sarah wrote taking the plunge

 

‘No where near as much as I miss you I’m sure, please can we talk? I’ll try to explain everything x’ Abby wrote

 

‘I get it Abby, I honestly do and I’m ready to talk x’ Sarah replied

 

‘Shall I come…now? X’ Abby asked almost unable to believe this was happening

 

‘Yes x’ Sarah simply replied

 

Abby arrived quickly, full of anticipation. She walked to the door and Sarah answered it before Abby even had a chance to ring. They both looked at each other in silence. No words were needed their eyes said it all, how much they had longed for the other and how this mess was understood now on both sides. They both suddenly reached out for each other and then clung to each other in tears.

 

‘I’m sorry’ Abby eventually sobbed out

 

‘Don’t be, I get it’ Sarah softly whispered and pulled Abby through the door

 

‘I just thought I was losing you’ Abby said when they were sat down ‘and I couldn’t face that. I am sorry for what I did to Ashlyn and that you got hurt. In that moment I honestly felt about 90% sure that you two were cheating behind our backs. I lost control and had I been 100% sure, by that I mean actually caught you both intimately together then I can admit I would have battered her. She knows how much you mean to me’

 

‘Honestly Abby I get it’ Sarah said ‘you don’t need to explain. If I was strong enough I’d also harm someone that I thought had come between us. Listen I don’t want to talk about it anymore I want to forget it now. I don’t need you to explain, I understand and you don’t need to waste time thinking about what you would do to Ashlyn if we had been cheating as you know now that we weren’t’

 

Abby nodded and mouthed ‘thank you’ at Sarah

 

‘Just take me to bed’ Sarah whispered back to Abby and Abby gladly obliged.

 

Everybody woke up content the next morning. Abby kissed Sarah’s hair as she woke with her girlfriend back in her arms and Ashlyn did the same with Ali.

 

Ashlyn went off to the bathroom and Ali took the opportunity to quickly text Sarah ‘Everything is fine we’re back together and we did it! xx’ Sarah didn’t need any explanation as to what “it” meant.

 

‘Wow! I’m so pleased you are back on and I want more details later re “it”. I’m with Abby ;) everything is fine there too xx’ Sarah replied

 

‘Enjoy yourself with Abby ;) I think Ashlyn will make up with her later xx’

 

‘I get that impression too, Abby definitely wants to talk she is just waiting for Ashlyn to be ready xx’

 

As the girls got out of bed and started getting on with their day both Ashlyn and Abby’s thoughts soon turned to each other….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS I am fully aware that word on the street is that the real life relationship between Abby and Sarah has been over for some time, and I've known this before even writing this fic. They are simply a good compliment couple to Ali and Ash in this story. With Abby's book about to launch it is highly likely she will confirm her marriage is over. I think it may put a sour edge on this fic, and if that is the general feeling of others I will slowly bring this to a close. My intention for now is to continue it and seek some further inspiration and also try to get myself back in the zone where I can think up some more unique ideas for myself.


	36. Facing the music

‘Well I think I’m gonna go home and face the music’ Abby said to Sarah

 

‘You should, it won’t be easy but I think the four of us are turning a corner. Putting you and Ashlyn right will be the most difficult though’ Sarah said

 

‘I agree’ Abby said ‘she’s got a lot to forgive’

 

Abby sighed to herself and made her way home. Ashlyn wasn’t there, so Abby sat down and waited for her return.

 

Ashlyn was having a similar experience. She and Ali had gone out for breakfast and she was now thinking that she had better go and face Abby ‘if you don’t mind Ali I’ll drop you home, go for a shower and then make contact with Abby’

 

Ali agreed completely and after dropping Ali off home Ashyln made her way back home. She was surprised to find Abby already there ‘oh hey’ she said putting her bag down and looking at Abby

 

‘Hey’ Abby said and she stood up. She wasn’t sure why. ‘How are things’ Abby asked unsure what else to say

 

‘Good’ Ashlyn replied and an awkward silence followed ‘you?’ Ashlyn asked remembering her manners

 

‘Been better’ Abby said honestly ‘listen Ash I want to say sorry for everything that happened, accusing you, knee capping you – particularly knee capping you I just can’t explain that to you other than I truly believed you were stealing my girlfriend that I love dearly’

 

Ashlyn stared at the floor, she hadn’t thought about it that way before. She thought about how she would feel if she thought she was losing Ali to someone, particularly if that person was Abby.

 

‘Do you still have any doubts whatsoever about me and Sarah’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘None’ Abby said

 

‘Good’ Ashlyn muttered ‘maybe next time you’ll come and ask me direct instead of being so sneaky and dragging Ali down with you’

 

Abby nodded ‘well there won’t be a next time I’m sure. Are we ok Ashlyn?’

 

Ashlyn nodded ‘yeah we are, but we won’t be if you ever pull a stunt like that again and I mean it. I know I’m very reliant on you but I’d rather be on the streets than go through this again’.

 

They shook hands and agreed to put everything behind them.

 

Fortunately they had a match to play the next day and all four of them had been chosen to play in the starting line up.

 

The match was tense from the start as the two sides hated each other. Abby’s team were 2-1 up.

 

The opposition strikers launched an attack on the defence in last ditch attempt to get an equaliser. Abby’s team knew that a place at the play offs was at stake so this was going to get ugly.

 

One of the opposition strikers had managed to get round Ali much to her annoyance though Ali continued to try and close her down. The girl took a hard shot at goal and by some miracle Ashlyn saved it. She was flat on her back with the ball hugged to her chest. There were quite a few players on each team all heaped up on the floor including Ali. She pulled herself up and the other players all started to get up as well, Ashlyn was still on the ground as one of the opposition girls was lying across the top of her, the girl that had made the strike was still swearing in annoyance, she punched the ground as she got up.

 

Ali was standing around waiting to congratulation Ashlyn on the fine save once she was up, when Ali noticed the opposition striker suddenly pretend to trip slightly and she stepped hard on Ashlyn’s thigh/groin area, then stepped over her and walked off like nothing had happened. Ashlyn had yelled in pain so Ali knew it had hurt her.

 

‘Hey’ Ali yelled after the girl ‘fucking wait’ but of course she didn’t so Ali picked up the pace she got right in the striker’s face and pushed her forehead up against hers ‘I fucking saw you step on her you bitch, what the fuck is wrong with you, why would you do that to anyone?’

 

The referee pulled them apart Ali continued to shout however she felt Abby’s strong arms wrap around her and pull her back ‘let it go Ali’ Abby told her

 

‘No! You let _me_ go!’ Ali yelled at Abby, but Abby wouldn’t

 

‘Whatever happened there’s nothing you can do’ Abby said to her

 

Ali was seething, but she knew this was a tense game and given the chance then yeah she had done a few shitty things to strikers who had scored on her before, such as a sly hard kick to the ankle, but stepping on someone’s groin was different.

 

Ali went over to Ashlyn who was stood in the goal by herself, she had her head resting on the post and her face was screwed up in pain ‘Ash are you ok?’ Ali asked ‘I saw what she did’

 

‘It really hurts’ Ashlyn said wincing ‘it’s taking all my effort not to put my hands over it’ Ashlyn said not wanting the audience to know she had been hurt there ‘it felt like her stud went right through to the bone’ Ashlyn told Ali and she discreetly undid the drawstring on her shorts ‘I really want to know that I’m not bleeding’ she hooked her thumb into her shorts and pulled them out at the front to look down.

 

Ali without thinking leaned forward and looked down too ‘oh god you are bleeding a little bit, it isn’t too bad though’ she said

 

‘Erm Ali, I think you just looked down the front of my pants in front of 20,000 people’ Ashlyn said

 

‘I know shhh’ Ali said realising what she had done ‘act natural and like it never happened’ She quickly ran off.

 

Ashlyn’s pain was slowly easing and she felt quite amused by what Ali had just done. She knew it was best that she didn’t check social media too closely that evening.

 

Unfortunately for Ali and Ashlyn, Abby had seen the exchange between them and laughed to herself. She looked into the audience and could see some of the fans all giggling about it.

 

The game ended in a draw which really wasn’t ideal at all. While the opposition were tough opponents, Abby’s team had really expected to beat them at home.

 

That evening they were sat out on the terrace at Abby and Ashlyn’s house all drinking beer trying to console themselves over the match. The mood was quite low and Abby decided to pick things up a bit. She took her phone out and went online.

 

Within 30 seconds she burst out laughing and showed her phone screen to Sarah who also burst out laughing.

 

‘What? What is it?’ Ali asked and then learned over ‘Oh NO!!!!!’ she cried out while trying not to laugh

 

Ashlyn looked over as well ‘oh shit I promised myself I wouldn’t look at social media this evening, trust you to ensure that I didn’t get away with that Abby’

 

It was all over Twitter the picture of Ali looking down the front of Ashlyn’s shorts ‘oh no and someone’s done a “caption this” competition as well’ Ashlyn said groaning.

 

‘Oh good’ laughed Sarah ‘let’s see some of them’

 

She took the phone from Abby and read some of the captions out

 

_“ahh just as I thought nothing down there”_

_“mmm I’ll be enjoying that later”_

_“oh that’s where I left my kebab”_

‘Oh my god that last one is just fucking disgusting’ laughed Ashlyn putting her head in her hands

‘Think it’s gonna take some time for people to forget that one’ giggled Sarah

 

As much as it had hurt not to win the match, the laugh had done them all some good, and things were really feeling back on track for everyone again.


	37. A night out

 ‘Are you two girls ready?’ Abby called through the door into her bedroom. Sarah and Ali were in there getting ready

 

‘Not quite yet’ Sarah called

 

‘Are you both naked?’ Ashlyn called from outside the door next to Abby

 

‘Yes’ Ali called back and Abby and Ashlyn heard them giggling

 

‘Oh my god just the thought of it mmmm’ Abby said laughing and she and Ashlyn went back out into the front room to wait for their girlfriends.

 

The four of them were going to Club Indigo one of Abby and Ashlyn’s favourite clubs in town.

 

About 20 minutes later Ali and Sarah emerged quite shyly from the bedroom

 

‘Fuck me wow’ Abby said ‘look at you both’

 

‘You look incredible’ Ashlyn said with her mouth open ‘you always look great but tonight is just well wow’

 

‘Thanks’ Ali and Sarah said giggling shyly and went over to Abby and Ashlyn

 

‘Abby do the right thing and step aside so I can have a threesome with these two’ Ashlyn said to her jokingly

 

‘Fuck off!’ Abby told her

 

‘No you’re not getting it Abby, I want you to fuck off. You two girls would be up for that wouldn’t you?’ Ashlyn asked of Ali and Sarah

 

‘Yeah probably’ Sarah said giggling and Ali giggled too, in the end they all started laughing.

 

‘I’ll just call the cab’ Abby said and picked up her phone

 

‘I’ll just kiss Ali’ Ashlyn said cheekily which Ali loved. She sat down on Ashlyn’s lap and they made out.

 

‘Come’ Abby mouthed at Sarah while sitting down again while on the phone she gave her a quick kiss just as the cab firm picked up. Abby had a very stuttered conversation with the receptionist as she found it hard to concentrate with Sarah sat on her lap in such a short dress while kissing Abby’s neck.

 

‘They’ll be here in 5 so let’s wait outside’ Abby said ‘it’s got rather hot in here’

 

‘It sure has’ Ashlyn said fanning herself and lifting Ali up.

 

The cab soon arrived and took them to the club. It was already after 11pm and very busy but they managed to find a high up table with 2 stools, Abby and Ashlyn helped their girls up onto the stools and then went off to get some drinks ‘we’ll get a pitcher ok?’ Abby said and girls nodded

 

The queue was quite long and when Abby looked back to where Sarah and Ali were sitting she saw they were swarmed with butch women trying to chat them up. They were having a great time ‘Fuck look at that’ Abby said and Ashlyn turned round to see what Abby was looking at

 

‘Ha’ Ashlyn said ‘doesn’t surprise me at all, they are the most beautiful girls here and everyone wants a piece. We’ve done fucking well there mate’ Ashlyn said and high fived Abby.

 

They were soon back at the table. A butch from another table was taking it in turns to pour some of her pitcher down Sarah’s throat them some down Ali’s. She of course deliberately missed a bit while pouring it down Ali as she was wearing white. Ali didn’t mind at all though, they were there to have a good time.

 

As Ashlyn and Abby approached the butches saw them coming and departed.

 

Abby started to pour out the drinks and they all enjoyed chatting, laughing and drinking. Before they knew it they were on their third pitcher and quite buzzed.

 

‘Come on Trash er I mean Ash, let’s get another’ Abby slurred

 

‘Fuck off calling me trash’ Ashlyn said laughing ‘take a look at yourself first you fucking wasted waster’

 

This wasn’t really funny at all but to the 4 drunk girls it seemed hilarious.

 

They soon returned again with another pitcher to find yet again more butches were talking to Sarah and Ali. This time Abby quite rudely pushed one of them who hadn’t seen her coming ‘oi I’ve got one word for you – mine’ Abby said to the butch putting her arms around Sarah and kissing her. Sarah grinned up at Abby, she hadn’t quite liked how aggressive she had got though.

 

Abby poured a drink for the three others then instead of pouring one for herself she announced ‘hey Ash I’m gonna chug it!’

 

‘Don’t you think you’ve had enough Abby?’ Sarah asked her quietly and got ignored

 

‘Fuck go for it dude’ Ashlyn said, not hearing what Sarah had said, and Abby sank the whole of what was left in the pitcher in one swig.

 

‘Fuck yes!’ she announced then threw the jug on the floor (fortunately it was plastic) grabbed a shot off of someone else’s table and then downed that too.

 

‘Abby you nearly hit that girl when you threw that jug’ Sarah said to her getting down to pick it up

 

‘So what, I’m enjoying myself’ Abby said ‘are we enjoying ourselves!’ she yelled at Ali and Ashlyn who both yelled ‘fuck yessss’ loudly

 

Sarah couldn’t quite understand why Ali and Ashlyn didn’t seem to be becoming uncomfortable by Abby’s behaviour like she was. She hadn’t seen Abby this drunk before.

 

Abby let out an enormous burp and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. People from a few tables around all heard it and some were laughing while others looked a bit disgusted. Ali and Ashlyn were nearly doubled over laughing. Sarah started fake laughing to try and fit in.

 

‘Come and dance with me’ Abby said grabbing Sarah and lifting her down off the stool. Sarah hoped a bit of dancing might sober Abby up a little and at least she wasn’t drinking while she did that.

 

They danced and Abby could not keep her hands off Sarah she kept very close to her and eventually started making out with her while her hands wondered all over Sarah. Abby had a lovely touch and Sarah started to forget her concerns over Abby being too drunk and became quite turned on. She felt one of Abby’s hands on her inner thighs, she didn’t mind it being there as she didn’t think Abby would go any further in public and it felt nice.

 

Abby had other plans however, she suddenly put her hand right up Sarah’s dress, pushed her underwear to the side and tried to finger her.

 

‘Hey get off’ Sarah said pushing Abby and her hand away ‘what the fuck were you doing?’

 

‘Just having some fun’ Abby said

 

‘Not here Abby people can see!’ Sarah said

 

‘So I don’t care I just want to pleasure you’ Abby told her

 

‘No you don’t, you wanted people to see you fingering me so they’d know I was with you’ Sarah said ‘you were trying to make me look like some cheap slag’

 

That was exactly why Abby had done it but she didn’t want Sarah to know that and was surprised she had worked it out.

 

‘Why are you so wet?’ Abby suddenly asked becoming serious all of a sudden, her mood swinging like a drunk person does.

 

‘What?’ Sarah asked

 

‘Your pussy it’s wet, had someone been touching you while I was at the bar?’

 

‘No!’ Sarah said ‘you were turning me on idiot’

 

‘Let’s go back to the table’ Abby said and Sarah agreed. They didn’t let on to Ashlyn and Ali that anything was wrong

 

‘Nice moves’ Ashlyn said to Abby and Sarah wasn’t sure what she meant by that.

 

‘Time for another pitcher’ Abby said and Ashlyn got up to join Abby at the bar

 

‘Abby I really think we’ve had enough all of us’ Sarah said anxiously trying to pull Abby back

 

‘Enough?’ Abby questioned ‘we’re only just getting started’ and she gave Sarah a huge kiss on the forehead and went off with Ashlyn.

 

‘Ali don’t you think Abby’s had enough to drink?’ Sarah said concerned

 

‘What, no’ Ali said ‘just enjoy yourself’. She was quite drunk herself and hadn’t really noticed any problem.

 

Some more butch women came over at that point to chat them up and Sarah and Ali got distracted. Sarah forgot her problems again temporarily.

 

‘Come on dance with me’ one of the butch girls said with her hands on Sarah’s legs

 

‘No no, that’s reserved just for my girlfriend’ Sarah told her with a little wink. The girl kept trying though.

 

Abby turned around while they were in the queue at the bar. Ashlyn turned to see what Abby was looking at. She saw her gaze was straight to Sarah.

 

‘I don’t like this’ Abby suddenly said ‘those butches are getting too close to Sarah now’

 

‘Hey they can look but only we get the goodies’ Ashlyn said turning towards the bar again

 

‘No I don’t like it. Sarah isn’t a virgin anymore, she could cheat on me and I’d never know it. What if she wants to go off with one of those other butches?’ Abby asked

 

‘She won’t!’ Ashlyn said ‘chill Abby’

 

‘Fuck that’s it, that bastard has her hands on Sarah’s legs I’m going to move them’ Abby said and before Ashlyn could stop her Abby had stormed over to the table.

 

Abby got there just before Ashlyn she grabbed Sarah from behind pulling her back ‘get off me!’ Sarah yelled unsure what was happening she stared at Ashlyn who had just arrived in shock wondering why on earth Ashlyn didn’t help her. It was like being in a bad dream where something bad is happening to you and all these people you know are just standing there watching but doing nothing.

 

Abby spun Sarah around and it was only then that Sarah realised it was Abby, and that was why Ashlyn hadn’t intervened

 

‘Why did you do that, I thought you were some weird stranger attacking me’

 

‘Why were her hands on you?’

 

‘Whose hands?’ Sarah asked she had been touched by a lot of women that evening it was only now that Abby was very drunk that she was bothered by it ‘let me go Abby’

 

‘Not until you promise to tell any other butch that touches you to fuck off’ Abby said

 

‘I can’t do that! This is a bar we’re meant to be having fun’ Sarah exclaimed

 

‘Then I’m not letting you go all night’ Abby said

 

Sarah was quite drunk herself and lost her temper she slapped Abby hard around the face. Sarah may be small but she had been working out as part of her training and her arms were very toned, she could slap hard. Abby let go at once and put her hand to her cheek. Ali and Ashlyn came over at that point as did a bouncer who had seen the incident.

 

The bouncer grabbed Sarah and twisted her arms up behind her back ‘owww that hurts!’ Sarah howled

 

‘Let her go!’ Abby said sobering up at what had happened. She knew she needed to co-operate ‘please let her go, if you need to restrain someone then restrain me’ Abby said to the bouncer.

 

Fortunately she listened to Abby and released her tight grip on Sarah ‘I want you 4 to leave now’ the bouncer said and escorted them all towards a back door ‘you can consider yourselves banned for life’

 

The four co-operated and allowed her to lead them to the door. The bouncer opened the door using the push bar and they were out onto a back street. As they were turning to leave and the bouncer was going back inside Abby suddenly fly kicked as hard as she could at the bouncer and sent her flying through the door.

 

‘Quick run’ Abby said and they all started to run. Abby holding Sarah up and Ashlyn holding Ali to make sure they didn’t fall. They ran for a good block then hid behind a wall just in case anyone came after them. They didn’t though.

 

‘Why did you do that Abby you idiot it’s really hard running in heels’ Ali said

 

‘Because no one hurts Sarah and gets away with it, I knew I had to pretend to co-operate and then once she was on her own I’d fucking do her’ Abby explained

 

It was silent for a minute while they all gathered their thoughts and breath.

 

‘Well done Abby getting us banned from our favourite club’ Ashlyn said

 

‘I don’t think it was Abby’s fault really, it was kind of mine’ Sarah said quietly looking at the floor biting one of her nails

 

‘Don’t’ Ali said gently taking Sarah’s hand away it was a habit it had taken her years to stop and she only bit her nails now when she was very nervous or very unhappy.

 

Ashlyn of course didn’t say anything else, she was never going to accuse Sarah of anything or speak aggressively to her.

 

Sarah eventually looked up at Abby ‘fuck your cheek it’s really bad’ Sarah said seeing the big red mark she had left. I’m sorry I did that’ she said gently reaching up to touch it. They all expected Abby to push her hand away. But instead Abby gently placed her hand over Sarah’s, she turned her head to the side and kissed Sarah’s palm.

 

‘I love you so much’ Abby whispered

 

Sarah’s bottom lip trembled ‘she really hurt my arms and I’m freezing’ she said bursting into tears.

 

Abby grabbed her and pulled her close to her, Sarah wrapped her arms around her but Abby unwrapped them ‘keep your arms inside’ she whispered tenderly ‘that will help to keep them warm. Ashlyn!’ Abby called. Ali and Ashlyn had stepped away to give Abby and Sarah some privacy ‘can you give Sarah your shirt she’s freezing’

 

Ali started to take off her cardigan for Sarah to wear but Ashlyn stopped her ‘no don’t, I don’t want you to be cold she can wear this’ Ashlyn had a checked shirt on over her T-shirt whereas Abby was only wearing a T-shirt

 

‘Drape it around her’ Abby said not wanting to start the whole “Sarah wearing Ashlyn’s clothes” thing again. ‘Have you called a cab Ash?’

 

‘I have yeah, it’ll be 10 minutes’ Ashlyn confirmed

 

The cooler air and the shock of the evening turning sour had sobered them all up. They all huddled together for warmth while waiting for it, Sarah completely wrapped up in Abby’s arms while she continued to cry.

 

‘Where are you hurting?’ Abby asked as she was comforting Sarah

 

‘I’m ok now’ Sarah said while sniffing

 

‘Do you have a tissue in your bag Ali?’ Abby asked

 

‘No, it’s the one thing I didn’t remember to bring’ Ali said regretfully

 

‘Use Ashlyn’s shirt’ Abby said with a grin and Sarah wiped her face on it and let out a small laugh. It was such a pleasure to Abby’s ears to hear her laugh

 

Ashlyn watched them both as she stood close to Ali to keep her warm while Ali was huddled close to Sarah. Abby did drink too much but it wasn’t really a problem before as Ashlyn never felt responsible for Abby. She did however feel responsible for Sarah and intended to speak to Abby about it.


	38. Truth or Dare

‘That was a bit weird last night Abby’ Ashlyn said to Abby after they got back from taking Sarah and Ali home

 

‘I know, I think I kind of over did it on the booze’ Abby replied

 

‘That’s the second time now’ Ashlyn told her ‘I’m sort of looking back at your drinking pattern Abby and wondering if something is going wrong. I’ve never really noticed before as frankly I’ve never felt responsible for you, unless something bad happened to your of course, but now with Sarah and Ali around I do feel more responsible’

 

‘Yeah I know what you mean’ Abby said looking embarrassed ‘I think it was just one of those things though, I don’t see it happening again’

 

‘Ok, but just know that I’m watching next time and if you do something that makes either Sarah or Ali uncomfortable then I will simply take them well away from you and you can party on your own without us’

 

Abby nodded getting exactly what Ashlyn was saying, things had gone too far and it was on her mind.

 

Later that evening Sarah and Ali were coming over again, but this time for a night in.

 

‘Oh wow this is brutal’ Ashlyn said reading some cards that Abby was showing her ‘and you say your sister gave you this game?’

 

‘She did yeah’ Abby confirmed

 

‘Nice sister!’ Ashlyn said

 

‘She just likes to have fun, she’s a bit of a party animal’ Abby said

 

They were looking at a game that Abby’s sister had given her for her birthday it was called “Extreme Truth or Dare” and some of the questions in it that Ashlyn had picked up were very private.

 

No one was too sure how, but somehow Abby and Ashlyn had convinced Sarah and Ali to play the game with them. They were sat in the front room of Abby’s house.

 

‘Pick a card Sarah’ Abby said holding out the pile of cards and Sarah took the top one

 

‘Oh my god!’ she gasped ‘how embarrassing, do I really have to read this out?’ Sarah asked

 

‘Yep I’m afraid so, that’s the name of the game’ Abby confirmed

 

Sarah giggled then read the card ‘how many fingers have you been fucked with before?’ the person asking the question had to answer first followed by the others ‘two’ Sarah said blushing

 

‘Two’ Ali said also grinning in embarrassment

 

‘I think I had all 4 once’ Ashlyn laughed

 

‘I think I did too’ Abby also said laughing ‘felt really weird’

 

‘Fuck yeah very odd, that certainly won't be happening to me again’ Ashlyn confirmed ‘right next question’ she said and Abby held out the card pack to Ali.

 

‘Have you ever had sex outside’ Ali said and grinned at Ashlyn ‘am I allowed to reveal this one?’

 

‘You are’ Ashlyn confirmed ‘it is all about truth after all’

 

‘Well remember when at lunchtime during training last week I said that I’d lost my earring and wanted Ashlyn to help me look for it? Well once we got round the back of the equipment hut I grabbed Ashlyn, kissed her, pulled down my pants and made her fuck me’ laughed Ali ‘fuck I was horny’

 

Ashlyn grinned proudly ‘well Ali has answered for us both so your turn Sarah’

 

‘well I haven’t actually’ Sarah said feeling a bit left behind by the others

 

‘I have previously’ Abby said

 

‘I’ll get more adventurous’ Sarah said clearly feeling a bit intimidated ‘I’m just very new to this it’s taking me a bit of time’

 

‘Oh don’t say that’ Abby said ‘you’re perfect as you are and you turn me on more than anyone I’ve ever met’

 

For the first time that evening Abby had slight doubts that perhaps this game wasn’t such a good idea. She thought about previous times she had played truth or dare and it always ended with tears from someone.

 

The questions continued of a sexual nature and then it was Sarah’s turn again.

 

‘Oh quite a tame one I’ve chosen this time’ Sarah said (mistakenly) ‘how many times have you been in love? One’ Sarah said smiling sweetly at Abby.

 

‘Once properly’ Abby said grinning just as sweetly at Sarah

 

‘Once’ Ali said also with a sweet smile at Ashlyn

 

‘Twice’ Ashlyn said after hesitating and looked quite thoughtful.

 

Ali looked at her surprised, she was obviously a bit hurt by Ashlyn’s revelation. Sarah at that moment also started to think that perhaps this game wasn’t such a good idea after all. They continued though and quickly moved onto the next question.

 

‘Have you ever cheated’ Ali read out from her next card ‘No’ she said firmly

 

‘No’ Sarah said just as firmly

 

‘Yes’ Abby said regretfully, Sarah punched her and narrowed her eyes then grinned at Abby, she knew Abby didn’t mean on her.

 

‘Yes’ Ashlyn also said regretfully

 

‘On me?’ Ali asked

 

‘Fuck no!’ Ashlyn said and put her arm around Ali. Ali didn’t look so certain.

 

‘Right next card is for you Ashlyn’ Abby said and held out the cards to Ashlyn

 

Ashlyn took her arm off from around Ali to take a card.

 

Ali had gone silent with a strange look on her face ‘I don’t want to play anymore’ she said and stood up and left the room. Sarah stood to go after her

 

‘No don’t Sarah, I’ll go’ Ashlyn told her.

 

She found Ali sitting outside on the wall ‘are you okay?’ she asked her putting her hand on her shoulder. Ali didn’t pull away but she didn’t seem to embrace the touch either.

 

‘Yeah great Ashlyn, I’ve just found out my girlfriend cheated and is in love with someone else, I feel fucking fantastic!' She burst into tears suddenly.

 

Ashlyn pulled her close and Ali held her shirt and buried her face in it.

 

‘None of that is true Ali’ Ashlyn whispered softly

 

‘Yes it is, you already admitted it. When did you cheat and who are you in love with that isn’t me?’ she looked up and questioned of Ashlyn.

 

‘I’ve never cheated on you, we’ve been through this’ Ashlyn reminded her

 

‘We’ve been through this with you and Sarah not with you cheating with anyone else’ Ali said

 

‘I’ve never cheated on you and never would, this was a long time ago when I was very immature. I didn’t love her and she certainly didn’t love me’ Ashlyn confirmed

 

‘Ok’ Ali said believing her and sniffed ‘so who were you in love with?’

 

Ashlyn paused for a moment ‘my first girlfriend’ she said ‘it was a really tough time, but it is long in the past’

 

‘It doesn’t sound like it’s in the past’ Ali said

 

‘You’re first love does stay with you somewhat’ Ashlyn confirmed ‘you get over them but not so much over “it” you’d find the same if we were together for a few years but it didn’t work out, you’d still feel it years later in some form’

 

Ali sighed. She got it and understood what Ashlyn was saying but she really didn’t like to think that Ashlyn had been in love with someone else.

 

‘It’s hard for me sometimes. I forget that you’re five years older than me and started earlier than me, I was very sheltered by mom and my sisters it’s really only since starting seniors that I’ve shown any interest in girls. Before this it’s always been just me and Sarah’ Ali explained ‘its just hard thinking that you had time before me when you were with other girls’

 

‘I know, I do understand’ Ashlyn said ‘I really don’t think I’d understand at all if it was the other way round and you had a past with other women. I respect it a lot that you cope with it’

 

‘I’m not exactly coping with it at the moment am I’ Ali asked

 

‘You are’ Ashlyn said and grinned down at Ali putting her arm around her ‘it was just a stupid idea to play that game, it always ends in tears’

 

Ali grinned back up at her ‘love really fucking hurts’ she said

 

‘It does’ Ashlyn agreed ‘in a way you really can’t describe, it’s all worth it though’.


	39. Tattoos

Ali was sat at home playing on her phone one evening a few weeks later. She had a notification that she had a private message on Twitter, she didn’t recognise the user name.

 

‘ _Oh for fucks sake I thought I had made it impossible for anyone that I don’t follow to send me messages. These social media platforms seem to reset my settings randomly’_ Ali thought to herself.

 

Curiosity got the better of her and she opened the message, despite making this mistake before as all the previous messages had been trolling over Ashlyn. Some of it was a bit close for comfort leading Ali to feel that she and Ashlyn were almost being stalked by some of these trolls. The previous messages had said:

 

“I fucked Ashlyn last night, don’t believe me? Well where was she between 7-9pm last night, wasn’t with you was she?” it was indeed true that Ashlyn couldn’t be accounted for during those hours the night before, but Ali had dismissed it that wherever Ashlyn had been was somewhere public and this so called “fan” had seen Ashlyn out and knew she wasn’t with Ali.

 

“Ashlyn’s fucking around behind your back” Ali had received this one a few times and always deleted and blocked it.

 

“Ashlyn’s only playing you, she’s just waiting for someone from her past to become available again” this particular message had struck a chord with Ali to a point that she had actually questioned Ashlyn over it. It was after that that Ali put the block in place on her social media accounts. She wasn't having trolls ruining their trust.

 

While Ali knew she should ignore it she found herself opening the message. This particular message said:

 

“Sure it’s you she really wants Ali?” with a picture, again Ali got curious and opened the picture. She was amazed at what she saw.

 

It was dusk but the picture was clearly Ashlyn and Sarah. Ashlyn had her cut offs pulled down and Sarah was sucking two of her fingers. It was unmistakably them. Ali was nearly sick; she hadn’t expected this at all, had Abby been right all along? Had Ashlyn and Sarah just put on an act of innocence when the whole time they'd been fucking each other?

 

Ali went onto her laptop and loaded the tweet again, she quickly printed it and decided to go over to Ashlyn’s now and challenge her about it.

 

Ali got to the house, Ashlyn’s jeep was parked on the drive way there was no sign of Abby’s car. Ali opened the door and went into the house without ringing the bell. There was no sign of Ashlyn in the house. Ali peered out the window and saw Ashlyn was sat outside in the garden watching the sun go down. Ali opened the sliding door and Ashlyn looked up.

 

‘Oh hey’ Ashlyn said sounding pleased to see Ali ‘I wasn’t expecting you’

 

‘Don’t hey me’ Ali said walking right up to Ashlyn, she slammed the piece of paper hard into Ashlyn’s chest

 

‘Ow!’ Ashlyn said as Ali’s sharp fingers jabbed into her collar bone. She took the paper from Ali and opened it.

 

‘Oh my god, where did this come from’ Ashlyn asked standing up ‘is this all over the internet?’

 

‘Who cares where it came from, what the fuck were you doing?!’ Ali screamed

 

‘I care where it came from!’ Ashlyn yelled back though not as loudly as Ali

 

‘No!’ Ali said pointing at Ashlyn ‘you don’t get to care, all you get is to explain what the fuck was happening here. Though really I don’t think I need you to explain’

 

‘So you tell me what was going on there then Ali seeing as you seem to know everything?’ Ashlyn said sarcastically

 

‘I can’t fucking believe you are acting like this, you don’t have a leg to stand on’ Ali told her

 

‘Yes I do, so you tell me what was happening there’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Well obviously she’s just put her fingers inside you or she’s just about to’ Ali said amazed at how Ashlyn was behaving she didn’t seem guilty at all that she’d been caught.

 

Ashlyn shook her head ‘we’ve been through this, there is nothing going on with me and Sarah, I’ll explain….’ Ashlyn began

 

 

*Flash back to the night of Ashlyn and Sarah’s barbecue*

 

‘Mmm pickle and ketchup go so well together’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Eww that sounds like a horrible combination’ Sarah said pulling her face

 

‘it isn’t at all, try it’ Ashlyn said handing it out to Sarah

 

‘I really don’t want to’ Sarah said grinning

 

‘Come on try it’ Ashlyn said now holding it up to Sarah’s mouth

 

‘Do I have to?’ Sarah asked reluctantly

 

‘Yes’ Ashlyn said still holding the piece of burger covered in pickle and ketchup to Sarah’s mouth

 

Sarah opened her mouth and Ashlyn gently put it in her mouth’

 

‘Oh my god!’ Sarah said chewing ‘that is really good you were right! I’d definitely have that again’

 

A few moments passed and then Sarah mixed some mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise together ‘oh wow this is good too, try it Ash’

 

Ashlyn was much more adventurous than Sarah and much less suspecting she opened her mouth straight away but instead of putting it in Ashlyn’s mouth Sarah suddenly slammed the piece of burger into Ashlyn’s face covering her with sauce.

 

‘Oh no you didn’t! You did not just do that Sarah Huffman’ Ashlyn said grabbing a tissue and wiping her face as best she could.

 

Ashlyn stood up and came round to Sarah’s side of the table ‘no no don’t!’ Sarah said tensing up at Ashlyn coming over. Ashlyn picked her up and carried her over to the side of the pool she sat Sarah on the wall around it and hung her over it threatening to drop her in while Sarah screamed at her not to. Eventually Ashlyn relented and she pulled Sarah up again so Sarah was sat on the wall in front of her. They were both laughing. Ashlyn lifted Sarah down from the wall.

 

‘I really like your tattoos’ Sarah said running her fingers down Ashlyn’s arm moving her skin around so she could see them better ‘do you have more?’

 

‘I do indeed’ Ashlyn said ‘I’ve got one on my thigh and a new one running down my side that you won’t have seen as I didn’t have it last time we went to the beach, wanna see it?’

 

‘Yeah’ Sarah said keenly ‘oh wow that’s massive and looks so cool!’ Sarah told her as Ashlyn lifted her shirt and hooked her thumb into her cut offs to lower them so Sarah could see the bottom of it ‘what’s the one on your thigh like? Sarah asked

 

Ashlyn tried to roll the leg of her cut offs up but they were too tight she shrugged and unzipped them and lowered them ‘wow that one is really cool as well, it looks hot’

 

‘That’s the idea’ Ashlyn said winking ‘Ali’s very keen’

 

‘I feel all sticky’ Sarah said and then looked up at Ashlyn and burst out laughing. Ashlyn burst out laughing as well.

 

‘Hey don’t be embarrassed, you aren’t the first girl to get excited by my tattoos’ Ashlyn said with a grin

 

‘You know very well that I meant my fingers being covered in sauce’ Sarah grinned and sucked the sauce off her fingers ‘mmm barbecue mixed with ketchup I like that’ she said while Ashlyn did her shorts back up again.

 

They walked over to the table again and Ashlyn rubbed Sarah’s back affectionately as she walked back round to her side.

 

*Back to present day*

 

‘I don’t believe you’ Ali said her arms folded and refusing to look at Ashlyn

 

‘Well it’s the truth’ Ashlyn told her

 

‘Give me your phone’ Ali said holding out her hand

 

‘Why?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Just give it to me’ Ali said still holding her hand out

 

‘Ok’ Ashlyn said and Ali slipped it into her pocket ‘take me to Sarah’s. You wait in the car and if your stories match I’ll believe you. I’ve taken your phone so you can’t text her and warn her. Give me the photo’ Ali said taking it from Ashlyn.

 

They got in the car and arrived at Sarah’s. Ashlyn started to get out of the car ‘No! You stay here’ Ali said firmly and slammed the car door. Fortunately Sarah was in and Ashlyn could see Sarah’s worried face as Ali slammed the photo into her just like she had done to Ashlyn.

 

Sarah’s story matched Ashlyn’s exactly, and Ali apologised for shouting at Sarah.

 

‘I would have shouted too’ Sarah said ‘it does look bad, and how awful that someone was spying on us, not just Abby. Is this all over the internet?’ Sarah asked

 

‘No, it got sent to me privately’ Ali confirmed

 

Good, I really don’t want Abby to see this. Are we ok now?’ Sarah asked

 

‘Yes we’re fine’ Ali said, she was obviously still upset but she forgave Sarah. ‘Don’t come out to the car with me Sarah please I want some time with Ashlyn’

 

Ashlyn leapt out of the car when she saw Ali coming back ‘well?’ she asked she sounded nervous even though she told the truth

 

‘She told me exactly the same story’ Ali confirmed

 

‘Ok so are we cool now?’ Ashlyn asked just as Sarah had

 

‘I’m not sure let’s go back to your house’ Ali said and they drove home in silence.

 

‘Are you upset because of the shock?’ Ashlyn asked when they got inside

 

‘A bit’ Ali said and her voice shook, Ashlyn knew she was going to cry. She put her arms around Ali. ‘Don’t’ Ali said pulling away.

 

‘Come on, don’t stand there crying on your own, nothing happened’ Ashlyn told her

 

‘It did’ Ali said

 

‘Don’t you believe us?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Yeah I believe you but Ashlyn why did you pull your shorts down in front of her?’ Ali asked ‘that isn’t ok with me’

 

‘She just wanted to see my tattoo’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Then get them in less personal places if you want to show them to other girls’ Ali said ‘or wear looser shorts’

 

‘It’s not like I had nothing on under my shorts Ali, she didn’t see anything’ Ashlyn said

 

‘So if I want to lift my dress up in front of Abby it’s ok is it?’ Ali said lifting her dress revealing a lace thong.

 

‘No! It isn’t at all’ Ashlyn exclaimed

 

‘Bit of a double standard Ashlyn’ Ali told her 'it's not like I've got nothing on under my dress' she said repeating what Ashlyn had said

 

‘Well I was wearing boxers Ali so I was sort of wearing more shorts’ Ashlyn said trying to justify it

 

‘It’s still underwear’ Ali said and Ashlyn nodded

 

‘You’re right I’m sorry’ Ashlyn said looking regretful ‘I didn’t think it through properly but when you put it like that it was out of line of me to take my shorts down. I’m really sorry and it won’t happen again’

 

‘Thank you, that’s all I ask’ Ali said and she let Ashlyn hug her this time. She buried her face in her and soon finished crying.

 

‘Better now?’ Ashlyn asked and Ali nodded. Ashlyn rubbed her back and started to take her arms away.

 

‘No don’t, not yet’ Ali said wrapping Ashlyn’s arms around her again.

 

Ashlyn grinned and held her tighter.

 

Abby came home soon Ali was still standing in Ashlyn’s arms.

 

‘Hey’ Abby said coming into the room ‘everything ok?’ She questioned a bit doubtfully

 

‘Yeah we’re all good’ Ali said then added ‘Ashlyn got caught with her pants down, but it’s all ok now’ she said with a grin at Ashlyn

 

‘Well I hope you gave her a slap’ Abby told Ali

 

Fortunately Abby didn’t realise the double entendre, and Ashlyn and Ali grinned at each other.

 

 


	40. Disaster Strikes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not a unique story line, but having a bit of writer's block :/ Here is my take on it.

 

‘Wow that is gorgeous’ Sarah said holding Ali’s hand and looking at the new ring she was wearing

 

‘It is isn’t it, Ashlyn is wearing a matching one but it is inverted to this one and more chunky, we chose them together’ Ali said

 

‘That’s a really nice way to celebrate 6 months together, did you have a really good night?’ Sarah asked

 

‘Oh fuck it was the best night of my life I think’ Ali said blushing

 

‘I won’t ask for details’ giggled Sarah

 

They looked over and could see that Ashlyn was having a similar conversation with Abby showing her the ring she had got from Ali.

 

A few weeks passed and everything was going smoothly. The four were standing outside after training. Ali and Sarah had managed to get quite sunburnt.

 

‘You two will be in pain later’ Abby told them tutting at their lack of preparation.

 

‘I know’ Ali said grinning, it was a bit tender but didn’t hurt yet ‘hey Ash take a photo of me and Sarah looking like lobsters for Twitter’ Ali said laughing with Sarah

 

Ashlyn grinned she took out her phone and stood on the side walk to take a photo, she couldn’t quite get both Sarah and Ali in the shot so stood back onto the end of the kerb.

 

What happened next was a blur that lasted less than 5 seconds but felt like a slow motion nightmare to Ali, Abby and Sarah. Ashlyn somehow lost her footing and fell back into moving traffic. A car hit her and sent her flying through the air.

 

Ali and Sarah screamed hysterically while Abby had desperately tried to reach out for Ashlyn to stop her falling, she had fallen into the road herself but not been hit. The driver was anxiously stood over Ashlyn calling 911.

 

Ali continued to scream hysterically while Sarah tried to calm her down though she was pretty hysterical herself. Abby was with Ashlyn trying to assess how bad she was. Ashlyn was unconscious and Abby was just horrified at how things had changed in a second.

 

3 hours later…..

 

Abby, Ali and Sarah were sat in a waiting room. They were desperately waiting for news. A doctor finally appeared.

 

‘Are you with group that came in with Ashlyn Harris?’ she asked

 

‘Yes that’s us’ Abby said

 

‘Is her mom not here? Or is one of you a family member?’ The doctor asked

 

‘Erm no her mom and none of her family will be coming. This is her girlfriend and I’m her best friend and house mate’ Abby said introducing them hoping that saying they lived together and Ali was her girlfriend would mean that she got some information.

 

‘I really need a family member’ the doctor said

 

‘She doesn’t have any family’ Abby told her not wanting to share Ashlyn’s private life with a stranger even if she was a doctor ‘if you need someone of authority the best I can do is get my mom down here, Ashlyn lived with us for a few years as she had no family and my mom was her legal guardian until she was 18’

 

‘No no’ the doctor said ‘you will be fine, it is just that we don’t normally share anything apart from with family but I can see here there are exceptional circumstances’

 

Abby nodded ‘how is Ashlyn?’ Abby asked

 

‘She has a sprained wrist, broken ankle and has hit her head hard. I’m sorry to say that she hasn’t regained consciousness and this isn’t what you want to hear but we won’t know anything else until she does regain consciousness’ the doctor explained

 

Ali started to sob. She just wanted to hear that Ashlyn was bruised and battered and maybe a little bit broken but no head injury. This was a nightmare.

 

‘How long until she’ll wake up?’ Ali asked

 

‘How long is a piece of string?’ the doctor said sadly ‘we just don’t know, it could be hours, it could be weeks or even longer’

 

Ali burst into tears again, Sarah pulled her into a hug and Abby pulled them both to her ‘can we see her?’ she asked

 

‘Yes you have full access to her’ the doctor confirmed ‘she has facial injuries as you would expect so she looks quite bad.’

 

They went to the room number the doctor gave them and as expected Ashlyn was covered in cuts and bruises. She was wired up to a machine that kept beeping and Ali and Sarah cried again seeing her. Abby struggled to keep it together too but knew that she must for the sake of the two girls.

 

This was the situation the three of them lived and breathed for the next 72 hours until….

 

On the third day the three were sat with Ashlyn.

 

‘Her hand!’ Ali suddenly said ‘it moved I’m sure it moved’

 

Abby and Sarah leapt up and came closer, they saw Ashlyn’s eyes twitching. Abby called for a doctor who came rushing in with several nurses. Ali, Sarah and Abby were removed from the room. Ali was screaming that she didn’t want to go Abby had to drag her out.

 

‘I want to be there when she wakes up! She’ll want me there’ Ali said sobbing on Abby and hammering her fists on her.

 

‘They’ll let us back in as soon as possible’ Abby reassured her taking Ali’s smaller hands into hers.

 

20 minutes later the doctor came back she was smiling slightly so they knew to expect some good news ‘she’s awake’ she confirmed ‘we need you to come through and help us with some questions for Ashlyn. I need none of you to touch her or run to her ok?’ the doctor asked and Ali confirmed that she wouldn’t even though she desperately wanted to.

 

They entered the room, it was lovely seeing Ashlyn not covered in machinery anymore. She just had a tube going into her hand but none into her face. She was lying staring at the ceiling. She caught eyes with Ali and Ali smiled at her Ashlyn gave her a very glazed over stare which disappointed Ali but she knew she must be feeling groggy.

 

‘Ashlyn do you know who this is?’ The doctor asked pointing at Abby

 

Ashlyn nodded ‘Abby, I live with her’ she confirmed

 

‘Good, do you know what year it is?

 

Ashlyn hesitated for a while and shook her head. That was extremely disappointing to hear.

 

‘Do you know who these 2 girls are? The doctor asked

 

Ashlyn stared blankly at Ali and Sarah and eventually shook her head…


	41. Disaster Strikes Part 2

 

 

Ali gasped in disappointment, how could Ashlyn not know her?

 

‘Are they my 2 nurses come to give me a sponge bath?’ Ashlyn asked croakily with a sly grin

 

Again Ali gasped with disappointment that wasn’t something Ashlyn would say at all.

 

The doctor took the three girls out of the room. ‘It’s worrying that she knows Abby but doesn’t know you two. It seems that she is having some kind of lapse of memory for the last few years. This isn’t common but it does happen the brain is very complex’

 

‘How long will this last?’ Ali said between tears. It was horrifying that her girlfriend didn’t know her

 

‘As I said the brain is complicated, this could be permanent’ She said reluctantly and walked off and left the girls to go back into Ashlyn.

 

Ali took Ashlyn’s hand ‘Ashlyn’ she whispered softly ‘Ashlyn do you really not know me?’

 

Ashlyn shook her head and pulled her hand away ‘don’t’ she said.

 

A week passed and while Ashlyn’s condition improved her memory didn’t. She was sleeping most of the time and when she was awake she was in a very bad mood and saying some very hurtful things to Ali.

 

Ashlyn woke up and Ali came over to her she took her hand

 

‘Stop doing that!’ Ashlyn snapped pulling her hand away ‘it hurts my sprained wrist having to pull away. If you do it again then I’ll believe you’re deliberately trying to hurt me’

 

‘Sorry’ Ali quietly apologised ‘do you need anything? Some water or something to eat?’

 

‘No’ Ashlyn said rudely ‘why are you here?’ she eventually asked

 

‘I’ve told you so many times, you’re my girlfriend so of course I’m here to look after you’ Ali explained

 

‘Well I wish you wouldn’t I hate it, why don’t you just go home?’

 

Ali held the glass of water with a straw to Ashlyn’s mouth she took a sip regardless of saying that she didn’t want it. Ashlyn noticed the ring on Ali’s finger was the same style as the one on her finger.

 

‘What is that ring?’ Ashlyn asked ‘it looks just like mine’

 

‘It’s a commitment ring’ Ali said ‘we gave them to each other on our 6 month anniversary’

 

‘I don’t want it’ Ashlyn said and started to work at getting it off her finger it eventually came loose ‘take it’ she said to Ali who shook her head ‘just fucking take it or I’ll launch it out the window’ Ashlyn said and Ali knew she meant it.

 

She reluctantly took the ring back and thought of the loving moment when they had exchanged the rings. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She put the ring on her own finger hoping that if she just kept the rings together it might keep them together somehow.

 

Ali fought back tears, she hated how Ashlyn spoke to her but she didn’t want to leave ‘I’ll just sit over here behind this curtain out of the way, that way you won’t know I’m here but you can call me if you want anything’

 

‘I won’t want anything’ Ashlyn said rudely again.

 

Ali disappeared behind the curtain and sobbed to herself. It had gone so wrong. Her loving sweet girlfriend had turned into someone obnoxious that didn’t even know her or want to know her anymore.

 

Abby and Sarah arrived an hour later ‘Hey Abs’ Ashlyn said ‘got your puppy dog with you again I see’ Ashlyn said looking at Sarah

 

‘Don’t call her that Ashlyn’ Abby told her

 

‘Well she is just a lap dog, always following you around. The Abby I know would never put up with that shit’ Ashlyn said scornfully with a dirty look at Sarah

 

‘Ash I don’t care how hurt you are, do not speak to my girl like that’ Abby told her firmly and Ashlyn made a face

 

‘Where’s Ali did she get sick of you?’ Abby asked

 

‘No sadly not’ Ashlyn said ‘she's sat behind the curtain over there’ Sarah wandered over to find Ali. Ali explained to Sarah what had happened and she was disgusted.

 

‘I wish you would go home now Ali and stop this, she doesn’t deserve to have you running around after her’ Sarah said

 

‘I just can’t leave her’ Ali said and Sarah understood

 

Abby went off to sign some forms for Ashlyn’s release so Sarah and Ali walked back out from behind the curtain to join Ashlyn again. Ali again forgot herself and instinctively took Ashlyn’s hand.

 

‘I said stop fucking doing that!!!’ Ashlyn yelled at her ‘I swear if you do that one more time I’ll fucking break each one of your fingers so you _can’t_ do it again’

 

Ali shrank back afraid while Sarah looked at Ashlyn in disgust ‘fuck off Ashlyn, just you try it and I’ll break your other fucking ankle for you’ Sarah said very firmly but calmly.

 

Ashlyn didn’t say anything else to either Sarah or Ali. Abby soon came back into the room none the wiser.

 

‘Do me a favour Abby’ Ashlyn said

 

‘What?’ Abby asked

 

‘Call Ruby and Emma for me’ Ashlyn said ‘have them waiting for me at home’

 

‘Jesus Ashlyn you haven’t seen them for nearly 4 years, they are history’ Abby said surprised

 

‘What?! No way. There is no way I’d give up them’ Ashlyn said ‘come on Abby don’t lie to me go and get me some pussy’

 

Ali had unfortunately heard every word.

 

‘Abby if you get any girls in the house apart from me I’ll never forgive you’ Ali said

 

‘Neither will I’ Sarah confirmed

 

‘I’m on your side remember?!’ Abby said to them both ‘god I’d forgotten what a total dick you could be Ashlyn’ Abby told her

 

‘Because you were just like me’ Ashlyn said with a sneer ‘I can’t believe how boring you are now, and how the fuck did we both end up with these two they’re so boring’

 

‘Stop saying nasty things about them now!’ Abby told her ‘I won’t tell you again Ashlyn’

 

Abby and Sarah had come to take Ashlyn home. Ali was coming to stay at the house to look after Ashlyn even though she was being a total pig to her. She hadn’t regained her memory and was still in plaster on her ankle and heavily bandaged on her sprained wrist. They thought it would be another week before she’d be able to go on crutches.

 

It was a difficult week with Ashlyn letting Ali do everything for her but with little thanks. The first night she had been particularly cruel.

 

‘Ok do you have everything?’ Ali asked after bringing Ashlyn a glass of water, making sure she was warm enough, and taken away the empty plate that had had a sandwich Ali had made for her.

 

‘I think so, you’re pretty pointless but you do make a good sandwich, you make it just how I like it’ Ashlyn said

 

Ali wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not. ‘Well just let me know if you want another one or anything else’ she said and then went round to the other side of the bed she climbed in.

 

‘What the fuck are you doing?’ Ashlyn asked her

 

‘Going to sleep’ Ali said surprised at Ashlyn’s reaction

 

‘Not in my fucking bed’ Ashlyn told her ‘get out’

 

‘I need to sleep somewhere, I want to take care of you, what if something happened to you during the night?’ Ali told her turning over to look at Ashlyn

 

‘Then sleep on the couch over there’ Ashlyn told her ‘I don’t want you in bed with me’

 

Ali got out and went over to the couch she pulled a blanket up over her and sobbed again. That seemed to be all she did lately but she couldn’t leave Ashlyn.

 

‘Can you be quiet? I’m trying to sleep’ Ashlyn told her unsympathetically

 

Ali buried her head in the covers to keep her sobbing down and eventually fell asleep.


	42. Disaster Strikes Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments. All I can say to you about this chapter is erm....Sorry!

The next few days carried on as before. Then the team all came round to see Ashlyn it was weird for those that she remembered and those that she didn’t. She was especially chatty with a girl called Gemma who had clearly fancied Ashlyn from the second she met her 5 years ago. Ali had never felt threatened by this but she did now.

 

‘Hey cutie’ Ashlyn said to her holding out her hand to Gemma and Gemma took it clearly loving the affection ‘when are we gonna hook up again?’ Ashlyn asked her

 

This was news to Ali. She didn’t know that Ashlyn and Gemma had slept together in the past. It was obvious at training that Gemma fancied Ashlyn but Ashlyn had always told Ali she wasn’t interested. Gemma looked embarrassed but she did nothing to fight Ashlyn off. Ali was so upset by it she struggled to stay quiet.

 

‘Gemma? What are you doing?’ Ali asked

 

‘Just having a bit of fun’ Gemma confirmed as Ashlyn now pulled her in and was kissing her face while she grinned away loving it.

 

‘Right that’s it, Gemma you’re leaving’ Abby told her knowing that the next step would be Ashlyn would ask them all to leave and end up sleeping with Gemma.

 

‘For fucks sake Abby’ Ashlyn said as Gemma was bundled out of the room.

 

Ali wouldn’t even look at her. She just muttered a quiet thanks to Abby.

 

‘You’re ruining all my fun’ Ashlyn said to Abby and Ali

 

‘Oh fuck off’ Abby said to her sick of Ashlyn’s attitude but Ali remained quiet she just couldn’t be horrible back to Ashlyn.

 

A week later Ashlyn’s wrist had healed enough for her to be on crutches. She was impatient and found them difficult but it was good for her to be mobile again and not have to rely so much on Ali.

 

‘I want to go out tonight’ Ashlyn said to Abby ‘I’m suffocating in here’

 

‘Ok well we’ll all go then’ Abby said firmly hoping that the 3 of them would be able to keep Ashlyn under control.

 

Sarah had a moment alone with Ali ‘are you worried about tonight?’ Sarah asked

 

‘Yes, it makes me very uncomfortable’ Ali said

 

‘Me too. I’m not sure how we are going to deal with Ashlyn on the prowl and I’m worried Abby will drink too much and be no help, she may even encourage Ashlyn’ Sarah said

 

‘I know. I’d do anything to stop them going out, and I don’t want to go, but I know that if I don’t go Ashlyn will sleep with someone else tonight’ Ali said ‘if I’m there I’ve got some hope of stopping it’

 

Sarah nodded ‘I just have this horrible feeling that irreparable damage will be done tonight’ Sarah sighed

 

‘Can we make a pact that if either of them do anything that makes either of us uncomfortable we will just leave together and take care of each other?’ Ali asked

 

‘Yes of course!’ Sarah said ‘you come first’

 

‘Same’ Ali said and she actually smiled for a change ‘you come first’

 

They arrived at the club and got Ashlyn sat down comfortably. A lot of slutty girls who recognised her as a pro footballer came over to talk to her which Ali hated. Eventually they had a moment alone.

 

‘I need a piss’ Ashlyn said crudely

 

‘Let me help you’ Ali said and they began the long walk down stairs to the bathroom. Fortunately it was quiet in there, just the two of them. They both went to the toilet and then were washing their hands.

 

‘I really need a fuck tonight’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Don’t you think I’m attractive at all?’ Ali asked Ashlyn shyly. She couldn’t believe how cold Ashlyn was being to her she had absolutely worshipped her before the accident.

 

‘Anyone that said they didn’t find you attractive would be a liar’ Ashlyn said

 

Ali liked that reply ‘Do you think I’m sexy?’

 

‘Sort of’ Ashlyn said ‘more cute than sexy but you are somewhat sexy’

 

‘Then have sex with me’ Ali told her ‘you don’t need to go with anyone else’

 

Ashlyn shrugged ‘may as well’ she said and they wandered back into a cubicle together

 

Ali got straight down to it she unzipped Ashlyn’s jeans and lowered them with her underwear. She gently pushed the lips back and tickled her clitoris with her tongue. Ashlyn threw her head back and moaned, she really needed this. She pushed Ali’s head closer into her and Ali loved the closeness between them again. Perhaps this would be how she would win Ashlyn over. She rose to her feet and made out with Ashlyn, her fingers replacing her tongue. She felt Ashlyn’s hand go up her dress ‘lift if for me’ Ashlyn said

 

‘There’s no need’ Ali said ‘just reach under it’ she wasn’t keen on Ashlyn seeing her intimately now in case she said something nasty. Normally Ali felt very confident but Ashlyn had destroyed that in the last few weeks.

 

Ashlyn grabbed Ali’s dress and lifted it herself, Ali tried to stop her but Ashlyn was too strong. She soon had Ali’s dress lifted and Ali grabbed her underwear to try and stop Ashlyn pulling them down. Ashlyn pulled Ali’s hand off and then pulled them down. It was the first time Ashlyn had used force on Ali and she didn’t like it at all.

 

Fortunately Ashlyn didn’t say anything unkind to Ali, she seemed to very much like what she saw.

 

‘Do you want to carry on?’ Ashlyn asked, of all the things she had forgotten she did remember that she needed to ask for consent and Ali nodded.

 

Ashlyn suddenly shoved her 2 fingers up Ali hard.

 

Ali cried out ‘ow that hurts!!’ she said with tears coming into her eyes as she pushed Ashlyn’s hand away ‘you made me bleed’ Ali said in dismay looking at Ashlyn’s fingers.

 

‘Are you a virgin?’ Ashlyn asked unsympathetically ‘god I just want to fuck I can’t be bothered dealing with a fucking hymen now’

 

‘I’m not a virgin!’ Ali said ‘you went too hard, and now I look at your hands more closely I can see your nails are sharp’

 

‘Well it’s hard to take care of them properly with a sprained wrist’ Ashlyn said not appearing sorry at all for what she had done ‘if you were any good at looking after me then you would have kept them trimmed for me’.

 

‘I’m really sore now’ Ali told her ‘you shouldn’t have done that so hard’ she said and a tear escaped her eye.

 

Ashlyn just shrugged and hobbled over to the sink to wash her hands ‘I asked and you said yes’ Ashlyn said

 

‘I know, I’m just used to you being very gentle’ Ali replied and Ashlyn just shrugged.

 

Ali stayed in the cubicle to clean herself up. She heard the door closing and realised Ashlyn hadn’t even waited for her. She waited behind for a minute to recompose herself. She was sore and also worried, Ashlyn had forced her to do something she didn’t want using her strength. This wasn’t the Ashlyn she knew at all anymore, and it occurred to Ali that Ashlyn might actually hurt her.

 

She went back out into the club not telling Abby or Sarah what had happened, as much as she wanted to. Fortunately within 15 minutes Ashlyn got really tired and they all left.

Sarah and Ali exchanged a look of somewhat relief, to Sarah it seemed everything had gone smoothly, while to Ali it hadn't gone smoothly but at least Ashlyn hadn't slept with anyone else....yet.


	43. Disaster Strikes Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments, sorry that it has upset so many of you ;)

A week later Abby was out and Ashlyn was sleeping lightly in the bedroom. Ali was bored she decided to clean the front room and got a duster and some polish out. The trophy cabinet with all Ashlyn’s and Abby’s trophies was quite dusty so she started to clean them. She stood on a chair to reach the trophies right at the top and carried on her dusting. The one on the far edge was a big trophy that Ashlyn had won as best newcomer for 2012. It was her biggest achievement to date and she was very proud of it.

 

Ashlyn suddenly appeared in the room which made Ali jump. She lost her footing and started to fall right towards a large cactus she grabbed the trophy cabinet in desperation to try and stop herself falling into the cactus and unfortunately pulled Ashlyn’s best newcomer trophy down with her.

 

‘You fucking idiot!’ Ashlyn yelled at her as Ali landed hard on the floor. Ashlyn wasn’t bothered at all about Ali, only the trophy.

 

‘I’m really sorry’ Ali said ‘did you not see me nearly fall into the cactus? I’d have been really hurt if I’d landed on it’

 

‘So what? It’s better than you breaking my favourite trophy’ Ashlyn said

 

Ali stood up. Her shoulder was hurting. To her horror she realised that the trophy was broken, the football had fallen off. She knew it would be easy to repair and look as good as new though. She picked it up and showed Ashlyn ‘see I can easily fix this, I just need some superglue’ she said

 

Ashlyn was fuming though. She grabbed the trophy roughly from Ali and yelled in her face. Ali shrank back against the wall frightened. Ashlyn just kept yelling though. Ali slid down the wall and curled up against it her hands over her head protecting herself as she sobbed.

 

At that moment the screen door opened.

 

‘Hey Ash, Abby wanted me to….’ Sarah began not realising anything was going on at first as her eyes adjusted to the darker room after being in bright sunshine. ‘What the fuck is going on?’ She yelled astonished to see Ashlyn standing over Ali who was cowering into the wall.

 

‘She broke my trophy’ Ashlyn said sounding like she expected Sarah to side with her.

 

‘I don’t care!’ Sarah said ‘why is she cowering against the wall like that with you towering over her?’ Sarah knew this was serious and felt they were in danger. She wasn’t big enough to stop Ashlyn but she would certainly try. She took her phone out of her pocket and fired off a quick text to Abby simply saying HELP in capital letters. She knew that Abby was aware she was at the house and would worry and she’d dash home.

 

‘Move away from her now’ Sarah said pulling Ashlyn

 

‘Make me’ Ashlyn said rudely and she actually pushed Sarah. Instead of getting scared and crying Sarah lost her temper

 

‘If you fucking push me again I’ll hit you so fucking hard around the head you won’t even know who you are anymore let alone who we are!!’ Sarah said threateningly

 

‘I’d love to see you try’ Ashlyn said then there was quiet as they both just looked at each other while Ali still was sat on the floor her face buried in her hands ‘you know what Sarah? Abby’s been out with girls far prettier than you’

 

It was a horrible comment that really hurt Sarah. Ashlyn knew it would hurt her and didn’t mean it at all, she just wanted to upset her ‘shut your face!’ Sarah yelled at Ashlyn and gave her another hard push. Ashlyn had put her crutches down and was basically balancing on one leg, the push caused her to fall, fortunately only on to the sofa.

 

‘I’m sorry I didn’t mean for you to fall’ Sarah said regretfully she didn’t dare go over to help Ashlyn up. Ashlyn didn’t need any help though she easily pulled herself up then started hopping slowly over to Sarah looking very menacing.

 

Sarah was so glad she had texted Abby and desperately hoped she would arrive. She slowly started to back away from Ashlyn she looked nervously behind her and realised she only had half a meter before she’d be backed into the wall with no where to go to get away from Ashlyn.

 

‘Ali’ Sarah said nervously and Ali looked up just in time to see Ashlyn’s hand raising at Sarah.

 

She jumped up but it was too late. Ashlyn grabbed hold of Sarah’s collar and pulled her towards her, her shirt was only thin and it ripped in Ashlyn’s hand and they heard something drop to the floor.

 

‘My necklace!’ Sarah screamed ‘you’ve broken it! That was a present from my mom on my 18th birthday! She saved up since I was born to buy that!’ Sarah was so upset she burst into tears while Ali went to comfort her.

 

The girls heard the front door open and an anxious voice calling ‘Sarah! Sarah where are you?!’

 

‘Here come quick!’ Sarah yelled between sobs and Abby came running into the room, Ali and Sarah had never been so pleased to see anyone. Abby came straight to the girls and wrapped her arms around them both

 

‘Don’t cry I’m here’ she said to them both then noticed Sarah’s ripped shirt ‘what the hell happened to your shirt?!’ Abby yelled

 

‘Did you put your hands on my girlfriend?!’ Abby asked Ashlyn she took her arms away from the two girls and went over to Ashlyn. Ali stood in front of Ashlyn.

 

‘Abby don’t please, remember what happened last time’ Ali pleaded

 

Abby backed off knowing she couldn’t do anything to Ashlyn anyway with Ali stood in the way ‘what happened?’ she said again returning to Sarah

 

‘She was shouting at us both and lost her balance’ Sarah lied ‘she grabbed hold of me to try and regain her balance but she ripped my shirt and she broke my necklace’ Sarah said letting out big sobs again.

 

‘The one your mom got for you?’ Abby asked, she knew as well as Ali what that necklace meant to Sarah. Sarah nodded ‘where is it’? Abby asked looking around on the floor and then she spotted it. She picked it up and slipped the necklace into her pocket and then again just held Sarah ‘come here Ali’ she said and wrapped her arms around her too. Abby closed her eyes and rested her head on the two girl’s heads.

 

‘Please just get me away from her’ Ali said sobbing her heart out, even though she had defended Ashlyn from Abby she was still very upset ‘you’re a total bastard Ashlyn!’ Ali yelled at her she hated that word so Abby and Sarah knew how angry she was. Ali stepped away from Abby and continued screaming at Ashlyn ‘take your fucking ring back’ she said throwing it at Ashlyn. She left the one she had given Ashlyn on her finger (the one Ashlyn had taken off in the hospital), she knew throwing the ring at Ashlyn would mean nothing but she wanted to hurt her back somehow. Ali raised her hand and slapped Ashlyn hard around the face.

 

‘Ow!!!’ yelled Ashlyn although she was far stronger than Ali, Ali was toned and could hit hard

 

Ashlyn went back into the corner of the room and started messing around with the trophy again ‘bitch’ Ashlyn muttered under her breath.

 

‘What the fuck did you just call me?!’ Ali yelled

 

Ashlyn didn’t bother to acknowledge or look at Ali.

 

Abby took both the girls into the kitchen away from Ashlyn ‘I don’t want to stay here anymore’ Ali sobbed out soaking Abby’s T-shirt ‘it’s time to accept it’s over. I don’t want it to be but it is. Ashlyn’s memory isn’t improving, she doesn’t know me anymore and she doesn’t even like me let alone love me, I won’t be called a bitch. I’m not safe here’

 

‘She wouldn’t have hit you’ Abby said ‘I do know that but I agree Ali it’s time to give up. You’ve really tried’

 

Ali and Sarah weren’t so sure anymore than Ashlyn wouldn’t have hit either of them.

 

‘I’ll come back for my stuff tomorrow’ Ali said and Abby took her to the car with Sarah.

 

‘Just give me a minute both of you, look after each other’ Abby said going back into the house to talk to Ashlyn.

 

‘Would you have hit one of them then if I hadn’t come in?’ Abby asked

 

‘No’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Right so forgive me but you don’t seem to know much anymore Ashlyn, you do still know it’s wrong to hit femmes don’t you?’ Abby said

 

‘Yes of course I know, I didn’t hit either of them and I wouldn’t’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Ok’ Abby said ‘is it true that you lost your balance?’

 

‘Yes’ Ashlyn said and then said no more.

 

Abby started to walk out of the house back to the car making a mental note to herself that she wouldn’t leave Sarah alone with Ashlyn for now.

 

‘You’ll regret calling her a bitch Ashlyn’ Abby said as she left the room ‘there isn’t a girl on the planet less of a bitch than Ali or Sarah’. Abby went back out to the car.

 

‘Sarah I don’t want you to be alone with Ashlyn at the moment ok? She’s behaving very unpredictable so please don’t go to the house EVER by yourself. Let me come and get you’

 

Sarah agreed. She still didn’t tell Abby that Ashlyn had pushed her then deliberately grabbed hold of her to do goodness knows what to her. She knew that Ashlyn was recovering from serious injury and Abby would hurt her if she told her. Sarah was still holding out hope that Ashlyn would regain her memory and stop being so confused and angry at everyone.

 

They dropped Ali home and then Abby drove off, she didn't go straight home though and turned off and parked in a side road and turned to Sarah 'what honestly happened there?'

 

'When I got to the house Ashlyn was towering over Ali screaming at her because she had broken her trophy by accident. She was being really horrible and she told me that you've been out with girls that are much prettier than me'

 

'She said that?!' Abby exclaimed

Sarah nodded

 

'Well I haven't at all, that was just her being an ass' Abby said 'what a horrible thing to say'

Sarah didn't say anything

'You believe her don't you?' Abby asked

'Yes' Sarah said

'It was rubbish Sarah' Abby said really annoyed at Ashlyn 'please believe that, you are absolutely beautiful'

'Thanks' Sarah said with a small smile and Abby dropped her home.

 

Abby returned to her house and felt that she better check on Ashlyn before going to sleep to make sure she was ok. She didn’t want to but knew it was the right thing to do now that Ali wasn’t there anymore.

 

She knocked and opened the door slightly. ‘Do you need anything Ash?’ she asked into the dark room

 

‘Abby?’ came a croaky voice

 

‘Yeah?’ Abby said feeling a bit concerned she opened the door and looked in. Ashlyn was extremely restless and sweating heavily ‘Ash what’s wrong?’ Abby asked

 

‘I don’t know’ Ashlyn told her ‘I just feel really hot and heady’

 

‘Do you want me to call a doctor?’ Abby asked

 

‘No’ Ashlyn said not shaking her head as it hurt too much ‘will you stay with me though?’

 

‘Ok’ Abby said reluctantly. She was annoyed with Ashlyn and didn’t feel that they would be friends much longer if this continued. Once Ashlyn was recovered from her broken ankle Abby was thinking about asking her to move out. If this was Ashlyn now then Abby didn’t want to know, they were too different now.

 

Abby got into the other side of the bed. She felt Ashlyn’s head it was hot, Ashlyn and Abby both slowly drifted off to sleep.

 

The night went surprisingly smoothly as did the next day. Ashlyn continued to feel strange and seemed lost in thought….


	44. Disaster Strikes Part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for my delay, I was over in Ireland all week. Enjoy the next part.

Ali came over the next day in the evening, typically while Abby was out, she wished she had contacted Abby before coming.

 

‘Hey’ Ashlyn said opening the door to Ali. That was possibly the nicest thing Ashlyn had said to her since the accident.

 

‘Don’t mind me’ Ali said walking in ‘I’m just packing some of my things, and then I’ll be back for the rest tomorrow’

 

‘Ok Ali’ Ashlyn said and Ali was surprised that was the first time Ashlyn had called her by her name since the accident too.

 

She packed her things and left and Ashlyn actually said goodbye to her. Ali was surprised by it all.

 

That night Ashlyn asked Abby to sleep in with her again, she was still feeling and behaving very odd.

 

Abby was woken some hours later by Ashlyn calling out in her sleep ‘Why didn’t you help her!’ she was calling out over and over.

 

Abby gave Ashlyn a gentle shake to wake her ‘Ash are you ok?’ she asked

 

Ashlyn was hot and heavy breathing she didn’t answer for a while ‘I was dreaming about Ali’ Ashlyn said suddenly ‘I dreamt she fell and I had to carry her home and I was mad at you for not helping her’

 

Abby was suddenly sat bolt upright ‘fuck fuck fuck!’ She exclaimed ‘that wasn’t a dream Ashlyn that happened! Your memory might be coming back’

 

They said no more as Abby didn’t want any false hope but she knew that if Ashlyn’s memory would just start to come back then it wasn’t too late for this to be put right.

 

The next day Ali came to collect the last of her things. Again she was greeted nicely by Ashlyn. She packed her things and came to tell Ashlyn she was done.

 

‘Wait!’ Ashlyn called after her ‘why don’t you stay and have some lunch with me?’ Ashlyn said so tenderly that it sounded like the old Ashlyn ‘please’ she said seeing Ali’s reluctance

 

‘Ok’ Ali said nodding putting the suitcase down.

 

They went into the kitchen and Ashlyn pulled out a chair for Ali. She hobbled to the fridge and took out some bread and things to make them some sandwiches. She went to cut a tomato ‘ow!’ she suddenly howled and Ali leapt up.

 

Ashlyn was holding her finger and looking all puppy eyed and sad which broke Ali. Ali took her hand gently and comforted her ‘did you cut yourself?’ she asked softly and inspected the hand ‘It’s ok look’ Ali said holding it up to Ashlyn ‘you didn’t break the skin, there’s just a small mark there’ she kissed it out of habit then expected Ashlyn to say something sarcastic but she didn’t she just continued to stand there looking sad with her hand in Ali’s.

 

‘Let me’ Ali said leading Ashlyn over to the table while she made the sandwiches. She couldn’t believe this was happening.

 

‘This is really good’ Ashlyn said with her mouth full and Ali actually laughed and Ashlyn laughed with her.

 

‘I think I had a dream about you last night’ Ashlyn eventually said while they were still eating

 

Ali didn’t probe her she just said ‘oh’

 

‘I cared about you a lot in that dream. A really huge amount’ silence followed ‘so we were pretty serious were we you and me?’

 

Ali nodded ‘yeah, you were besotted with me and I know you’ve found me annoying but it’s been hard to give up on that’

 

‘Do you have some pictures of us together? Ashlyn asked and Ali was thrilled at the interest Ashlyn was showing in them.

 

‘I made an album for our 6 month anniversary actually’ Ali said ‘shall I get it, I think I know where you keep it in your room?’

 

Ashlyn nodded and Ali soon brought the Album back.

 

They poured over the photos together ‘wow we are a cute couple’ Ashlyn said gazing differently at Ali ‘look at the way I look at you’

 

Ali sighed regretfully. This was nice but it didn’t mean anything. Ashlyn was showing a bit more interest but she wasn’t remembering anything.

 

Ali soon left, leaving them both feeling a bit lost.

 

Abby slept in her own bed that night. She was woken at around 2am with Ashlyn shaking her ‘Abby! Abby wake up!’ she said

 

‘Fuck Ashlyn you gave me a fright! What is it?’ Abby asked trying to soften her voice

 

‘I can’t find Ali’ Ashlyn said ‘she’s not here and her contact isn’t in my phone, where is she? Ashlyn asked clearly a bit delirious

 

‘Ash, you aren’t together anymore’ Abby said gently ‘you deleted her from your phone, sent her away and finished with her, seriously you aren’t together anymore’

 

‘Yes we are!’ Ashlyn said getting upset ‘where is she?’ she started to cry clearly very confused and upset. Her legs suddenly gave way and she fell to the floor. Abby was worried about her. She pulled her up wrapped a jacket around her and took her to the hospital. The doctor there checked her over physically and she seemed fine.

 

‘Can you ask her these questions?’ Abby whispered to the doctor slipping her a bit of paper ‘I think her memory is flooding back and she feels scared and confused.

 

The doctor nodded ‘ok Ashlyn I know you’re tired but I need you to answer some questions’

 

‘How old are you?’

 

‘25’ Ashlyn confirmed and Abby grinned to herself

 

‘Who are your best friends?’

 

‘Abby and Sarah’ Abby grinned again

 

‘Do you have a girlfriend?’

 

‘Ali’ Ashlyn said ‘I can’t find her though’

 

‘Can you remember why you have a broken ankle?’

 

Ashlyn nodded ‘I fell off the kerb when taking a photo and a car hit me’

 

The doctor and Abby were very pleased with Ashlyn’s progress.

 

‘This is good stuff Ashlyn, I’m very pleased with you. I want you to go home now but I’m booking you an appointment with me for two days time and after that hopefully we can get your cast off and release you from after care’

 

‘That’s really good Ashlyn!’ Abby told her and Ashlyn gave a small smile. Abby knew that Ashlyn just wanted Ali.

 

Abby felt concerned though. She knew tomorrow morning when Ashlyn’s memory was getting stronger again she was going to realise how cruel she had been to Ali.

 

‘Take me to Ali’ Ashlyn said when they were back in the car

 

‘It’s 4am Ashlyn, we can’t just go over there and wake her plus we might accidentally wake her mom up too’ Abby told her

 

‘Take me!’ Ashlyn whined and started sobbing again ‘I have to see her and if you won’t take me I’ll walk’

 

Abby knew she meant it. She sighed to herself and texted Ali to see if she was awake. By the time they pulled up at Ali’s house there hadn’t been a reply so Abby knew she was sleeping. She really didn’t want Ashlyn making a scene. She tried ringing Ali’s phone and eventually a groggy Ali answered.

 

‘Hello?’ she said

 

‘Ali? It’s Abby’

 

‘Fuck is Ashlyn ok?’ Ali asked panicked and wide awake suddenly

 

‘Ali her memory’s back, and she’s asking for you. We’ve been in the hospital the last few hours and they’re pleased with her progress but she just wants you. We’re outside can you come down?’

 

There came a short silence then Ali said ‘ok’ she hung up and made her way downstairs.

 

Abby came to greet her with Ashlyn in tow looking very distressed

 

‘Why weren’t you there when I woke up?’ Ashlyn whined ‘I’m badly injured’

 

‘Why would I be?’ Ali said ‘Have you conveniently forgotten how mean you were to me?’

 

Ashlyn was speechless for a moment ‘can you just come home with us I want to go to sleep and we can talk tomorrow? Where’s my ring’ Ashlyn suddenly asked sadly looking down at her bare finger.

 

‘You didn’t want it anymore and gave it back to me’ Ali informed her she was shaking with mixed emotions. Part of her was so happy Ashlyn’s memory appeared to be back even though she was delirious, but she couldn’t forgive her for how unkind she had been.

 

‘I want it’ Ashlyn whined ‘now’

 

Ali slipped the ring off her finger and gave it to Ashlyn who quickly put it back on

 

‘Where’s your ring?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘I don’t know and I don’t want to talk about it now’ Ali said

 

‘Can we just go to bed?’ Ashlyn asked with her best puppy eyes look

 

‘No’ Ali eventually said ‘I’m not coming with you tonight, I’ll come and see you tomorrow after you’ve had a good sleep’

 

Ashlyn started crying then ‘please Ali, I love you come with me’

 

But Ali stayed strong and refused.

 

Ashlyn then grabbed Ali’s hand and tried to pull her to come with her. Abby stood back and watched, she was curious to see how forceful Ashlyn would be with Ali. The second she even remotely hurt Ali, Abby would pull Ashlyn straight off her. Ashlyn did nothing though, she held the hand gently and when Ali pulled away she held on for as long as she could without squeezing or risking causing Ali any pain.

 

Abby eventually managed to bundle Ashlyn back into the car. It nearly killed Ali watching her miserable face looking at her out of the window.

 

‘Don’t you ever fucking call me a bitch again’ Ali said against the glass making sure Ashlyn could hear her then she turned away.

 

Ali burst into tears when they left she felt so confused.


	45. Disaster Averted?

It was gone 10am before Ali woke. She thought about the events of the last night and felt a glimmer of hope that she and Ashlyn could work on this as long as Ashlyn was her old self again. She didn’t make contact with Ashlyn or Abby, she was going to let them come to her.

 

After midday Ashlyn eventually woke up and came out of her room.

 

‘Do you remember last night?’ Abby asked her pouring her some coffee

 

Ashlyn nodded ‘thanks’ she said as she took the coffee.

 

‘Do you still feel for Ali?’ Abby asked scared of the answer

 

‘More than I’ve ever felt for anyone else, I just feel horrendous about what I’ve put her through’ Ashlyn said putting her head in her hands ‘I remember it all now, I remember falling and seeing the car coming for me and I remember waking up and not really knowing anyone but I don’t understand why I was so cruel to Ali’

 

‘You had a complex brain injury’ Abby explained ‘I think she’ll understand but it might take time you were very nasty and the icing on the cake was when you called her a bitch that was just horrible.’

 

‘I know’ Ashlyn said ‘I can’t even believe I said such a word to her’

 

‘Shall I text her and ask her to come over?’ Abby asked

 

Ashlyn nodded. Abby texted Ali and she arrived within half an hour. Abby left them alone to talk.

 

‘Do you really remember everything?’ Ali asked and Ashlyn nodded

 

‘Absolutely everything from before the accident, when it happened, and how I’ve been with you’ Ashlyn said quietly ‘I can’t explain that’

 

‘Well I can’t explain how relieved I am to have the old you again’ Ali said feeling that Ashlyn was her Ashlyn again

 

‘Do you forgive me?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘I think so’ Ali said though there was some reluctance in her voice.

 

‘I’m really so sorry that I called you a…. well I don’t even want to say that word’ Ashlyn said

 

‘It’s ok, you weren’t well but I meant what I said last night. If you ever call me that again we are finished’ Ali told her

 

Ashlyn stood and reached into her pocket she pulled out Ali’s ring. She took Ali’s hand and went to slip it back on her finger just like she had on that romantic loving night when they had first exchanged the rings.

 

‘No’ Ali said shaking her head and taking her hand away ‘not yet, I forgive you but I’ve not forgotten. You’ll need to work at that’.

 

Ashlyn was taken aback she thought Ali would have been pleased to put the ring back on, but she understood. She did what Ali had done and slipped the ring onto her own finger.

 

‘I’ve been a real dick’ Ashlyn said sighing

 

‘You’ve got a really mean side to you that I didn’t know was there’ Ali said ‘and I won’t wear my ring again until I feel like that is something I’ll never see again’

 

‘I wasn’t well Ali’ Ashlyn said ‘even when I was younger I wasn’t ever mean or that obnoxious I don’t know what happened to me’

 

Ali turned her head to look at the clock, Ashlyn put her hand on Ali’s knee and instead of liking it there Ali jumped at the touch and Ashlyn took her hand away surprised.

 

‘Sorry’ Ali said apologising and lifting Ashlyn’s hand back onto her leg ‘I’m not sure what happened then’

 

‘You don’t trust me anymore’ Ashlyn said ‘do you?’

 

Ali shook her head with tears in her eyes ‘no’ she sobbed ‘you really hurt me when we had sex that one time and you backed me into a wall and didn’t care when I was frightened you just kept yelling, and you called me a bitch and you were horrible telling Sarah that Abby has dated better looking girls than her and breaking her necklace’

 

‘I know’ Ashlyn whispered quietly ‘those things have been going round and round in my head all day. I am so sorry about it I can’t apologise enough. You must know that’s not me? I’ve never laid a finger on any femme before or used that horrible word to someone I care about’

 

‘I do know it’ Ali said and silence followed for a moment 'have you ever deliberately hurt someone before during sex?' Ali asked

 

'No never' Ashlyn said firmly 'I didn't deliberately hurt you, please don't think that of me, I just went too hard and fast for you'

 

Ali nodded believing her 'I just need some time'

 

Ashlyn understood that ‘I’ll make you trust me again, you’ll see. I’ll put in whatever effort is required, I love you and you’re all that matters to me. I’ll of course apologise to Sarah as soon as I see her for what I did and hope that she’ll want to be friends with me again. Can we go into town tomorrow to choose a new shirt for her to replace the one I ripped?’

 

Ali gave Ashlyn a smile and a kiss ‘I’d like that’ Ali said, Ashlyn really was trying to put everything right.

 

Ali snuggled into her and linked their fingers, both of them relieved to have the other there.

 

‘I was saving some money, you know for a house or something’ Ashlyn said not making eye contact with Ali. Ali knew that Ashlyn was basically saying she was saving for their future ‘I’d like to use that money to replace the necklace I broke’

 

‘That’s so sweet, but Ashlyn you have good taste, and anything you choose will be something Sarah wants to wear all the time honestly can you imagine Abby’s reaction to that?’ Ali said

 

‘I suppose it would be a bad idea, I’m just not sure what to do about it’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Just get her the shirt, it’s a good start’ Ali said

 

Sarah came in with Abby a bit later. She had heard all about Ashlyn’s memory coming back. This was the first time she’d seen Ashlyn since she had been so horrible to her she didn’t greet her or smile at her when she saw her which was very out of character.

 

Ashlyn gently lifted Ali off of her lap and went over to Sarah. ‘I’m sorry’ she told her ‘what I did was absolutely unforgiveable. I’ve never got physical with any girls before I don’t know what happened to me. All I can say is that I wasn’t myself and I hope you’ll be able to trust me again soon. I said that Abby had dated prettier girls to deliberately hurt you, I didn't mean it at all though, she hasn't and you are absolutely beautiful’

 

‘Thanks for apologising’ Sarah said ‘I know that you weren’t yourself and I forgive you, but if you ever push me again we are no longer friends and I won’t support your relationship with my best friend’

 

Ashlyn nodded she apologised again and she and Sarah had a warm hug.

 

 


	46. Putting Some Things Right

 

 

Abby interrupted the hug and pulled Sarah away ‘what did you say Ashlyn?’

 

‘That I’m sorry’ Ashlyn said nervously remembering that they had lied to Abby about what had happened.

 

‘After that, what did you say? Something about how you’ve never got physical with a girl before? What girl did you physical with?’ Abby asked her temper rising

 

‘Abby calm down it’s in the past’ Sarah said

 

‘Sorry but it isn’t, what have I missed here?’ Abby said getting more wound up

 

Sarah remained silent and just looked up at Abby with her puppy eyes hoping she wouldn’t say anything else. Ali also remained quiet not wanting this to be brought up. It was up to Ashlyn to explain what happened.

 

‘I pushed Sarah and when I ripped her shirt and broke her necklace it was because I grabbed hold of her deliberately, I didn’t lose my balance’ Ashlyn said

 

‘What?’ Abby asked in disbelief

 

‘When Ali moved out of the house it wasn’t just because I shouted at her, I did get physical with Sarah when she was trying to protect Ali’ Ashlyn confirmed 'so after that they were both scared of being alone with me I think'

 

‘She didn’t hurt me Abby’ Sarah said ‘she didn’t try to push me over or anything like that, please can we just forget this’

 

Abby paused for a minute biting one of her nails as she tried to process what happened.

 

‘Please Abby’ Sarah said again

 

‘I can’t just leave this’ Abby said going over to Ashlyn ‘THAT NECKLACE MEANS EVERYTHING TO HER!!!!’ she yelled louder than any of them had ever heard.

 

Again Sarah and Ali blocked Abby’s path to Ashlyn ‘stop it you two!’ Abby said ‘she doesn’t deserve to be defended by you’

 

‘She’s right’ Ashlyn said reluctantly to Ali and Sarah ‘just let her do whatever she wants to me’

 

‘I’ll give you a fucking dead arm to match your dead leg!’ Abby said now hustling with Ashlyn 'I felt so bad about that, but right now I'm remembering just how fucking annoying you can be at times Ashlyn' Abby continued still trying to get to Ashlyn but Sarah and Ali wouldn’t move.

 

‘Just stop this!’ Sarah yelled ‘violence doesn’t solve anything I don’t want to see anyone hit anyone else’

 

‘Neither do I!’ Ashlyn said ‘I really am sorry about everything, I just can’t seem to get it through to you three that I’ve had a really bad accident that could have killed me. The car smashed me to the ground landing on my head, I wasn’t going to come out of that easily, I think I was very lucky to get away with temporary memory loss’ tears came to her eyes ‘I feel like you’re all against me and would rather it had just killed me. You all know me, especially you Abby, you should know that I was ill and that behaviour was not characteristic of me at all. Just give me a fucking break!’

 

Silence followed as everyone reflected on what Ashlyn had said.

 

Abby unexpectedly suddenly pulled Ashlyn into a hug that Ali and Sarah joined in with. They realised that they had been unfair.

 

‘I’m sorry all of you’ Ashlyn said clearly full of remorse ‘I just want you to understand how it’s been for me’

 

‘Don’t be sorry’ Abby said ‘you’re right we haven’t looked at it from your point of view. You weren’t easy to deal with Ashlyn these last weeks but it wasn’t’ your fault. And the idea of you being killed in that accident is just horrific to me. I think we all forgot that was very nearly a possibility when it first happened’

 

Ali and Sarah nodded. Damage was done but Ashlyn was on the mend and trying her hardest to get everyone including herself back on track.

 

 

Ali and Ashlyn went shopping in town the next day just as Ashlyn had said. She was getting quite good on her crutches and hoped she wouldn’t be on them much longer.

 

‘Shall we go in here?’ Ashlyn asked outside an expensive store

 

‘It’s very pricey in there’ Ali said

 

‘I know but I want to get her something really nice to try and make up for what I did’ Ashlyn said

 

Ali grinned so pleased the real Ashlyn was back again, it was impossible to imagine that Ashlyn had ever ripped Sarah’s shirt. They chose a nice fitted white shirt together that they knew would really suit Sarah and she’d love it.

 

Abby was there when Ali and Ashlyn got home. Sarah arrived a few minutes later.

 

Abby got up to go and greet her she gave her a warm hug and a long kiss ‘I’ve got something for you’ Abby said with a grin

 

‘Oh?’ Sarah said with a smile

 

‘It’s in my front jeans pocket’ Abby said ‘it’s delicate so be gentle’

 

‘Eww Abby I’m not falling for that you pervert’ Sarah said while Ali and Ashlyn giggled ‘still I suppose I should be grateful you didn’t say it was in your middle pocket like you did last time’ and Abby grinned

 

‘I’m serious’ Abby said nodding her head down at her pocket and Sarah reluctantly reached in gently.

 

She felt a chain there and gently pulled it out suddenly wondering if it was what she thought it might be and it was ‘my necklace!!!!’ Sarah screamed and she jumped into Abby’s arms ‘you fixed it! I thought it was completely ruined’ Sarah said a tear escaping ‘how did you do it?’

 

‘I took it to my jeweller’s she’s very good and soon had it fixed as good as new’ Abby said with a cheeky grin as Sarah hugged her again

 

‘How much was it?’ Ashlyn asked taking her wallet out of her pocket but Abby didn’t answer her, things were still a bit frosty between them. Ashlyn took out $100 and put it on the counter for Abby to take later.

 

‘I got something for you too’ Ashlyn said and picked up the carrier bag with the shirt in it and handed it to Sarah.

 

As hoped Sarah absolutely loved the shirt she went into the bedroom to put it on and it really did look good on her ‘thank you Ashlyn’ Sarah said shyly.


	47. Team Party!

 

The whole team was pleased to have Ashlyn back again. As soon as she was off her crutches a party was arranged at Abby and Ashlyn’s house for everyone.

 

It was the first time that Gemma and Ali had come face to face since the revelation that she had slept with Ashlyn and also that she responded to Ashlyn’s affection when she should have respected Ashlyn’s relationship with Ali.

 

‘Did you have to invite her Abby?’ Ali asked looking at Gemma

 

‘Oh don’t worry about her Ali she’s just a slag’ Sarah said loyally siding with Ali ‘she’s got nothing on you’

 

Sarah walked off carrying a glass of wine she pretended to trip as she was walking past Gemma and ended up pouring it over her ‘oh god sorry Gemma’ Sarah said and then walked off with out saying anything else.

 

Abby and Ali saw Gemma look towards them. Gemma knew that if Abby was watching then she couldn't react, Sarah was completely untouchable as Abby's girlfriend. Gemma made a mental note to herself that if they ever broke up she'd pay Sarah out.

 

Ali and Abby grinned to each other.

 

‘Lucky that wasn’t red wine Sarah was drinking’ Abby said ‘and I didn’t want to invite her Ali but I couldn’t really leave her out as this is a party for the whole team’

 

‘I’d forgotten about her, I hate that Ashlyn has slept with someone else on the team’ Ali said

 

‘It was a long time ago’ Abby said

 

‘I know but I still hate it, and you and Ashlyn would absolutely hate it yourselves if me and Sarah had slept with other people on the team’ Ali said

 

‘I can’t deny that, I really think it would be something I wouldn’t cope with’ Abby said

 

'Gemma clearly remembers it well no matter how long ago it was and wishes Ashlyn was with her’ Ali said ‘Sarah’s right she is a slag’ Ali muttered

 

Abby laughed, it was unusual hearing Ali swear.

 

Ali decided the best thing to do was to ignore Gemma and Gemma seemed satisfied with that.

 

The evening went really well. Ali and Ashlyn were stuck to each other like glue. Some people (including Gemma much to Ali’s relief) eventually went home and those left all moved into the front room and were sat or lying around. Ali was sat on Ashlyn’s lap facing towards her with her legs wrapped around her. She was wearing shorts with no underwear on and Ashlyn was enjoying the fact that she could see Ali’s pussy up the leg. While Ali was looking away saying something to Sarah, Ashlyn suddenly poked her finger at Ali’s pussy.

 

‘Ewww Ashlyn!’ Ali exclaimed

 

‘What did she do?’ Sarah asked

 

‘She poked her finger in my pussy’ Ali said half grinning ‘we’re in a room full of people Ashlyn, go and wash your hands!’

 

‘I don’t want to’ Ashlyn said and sucked her finger

 

‘Ewww! You really are disgusting, I still want you to go and wash your hands’ Ali told her

 

‘Alright’ Ashlyn sighed grinning ‘come with me though’

 

Ali grinned shyly but took Ashlyn’s hand and they left the room. They went into the bathroom and Ashlyn washed her hands then she put her arms around Ali and kissed her.

 

‘Do you trust me again?’ Ashlyn asked between kisses

 

Ali nodded ‘I’m getting there’ she told her

 

‘Do you want to maybe stay over and have some fun later’ Ashlyn asked suggestively. It would be the first time Ali had stayed the night since before the accident.

 

‘I think I might like that’ Ali said grinning and a huge smile spread across Ashlyn’s face.

 

They went back into the room both grinning.

 

‘Oooh are you on a promise Ashlyn?’ Megan said seeing the smile

 

‘Ha I think she's already had a bit of luck judging by that smile’ Syd said ‘what have you done to her Ali?!’

 

‘A lady never kisses and tells’ Ali said taking her spot back on Ashlyn’s lap.

 

Everyone laughed, it was good seeing Ali and Ashlyn reconnecting again.

 

Talk moved onto the up and coming international tournament. It was just a short week long tournament featuring USA, England, France and Germany. Ali and Sarah hadn’t made the squad, they were still considered too young. They weren’t looking forward to Abby and Ashlyn being away.

 

‘Who are you rooming with Abby?’ Sarah asked

 

‘Syd this time’ Abby said

 

‘Wow you two won’t get any sleep’ Sarah said thinking of how well Syd and Abby got on and their fondness for jokes.

 

Some of the others announced that they were leaving and soon it was just Ashlyn, Ali, Abby, Sarah, Syd and Megan left.

 

The talk turned to the tournament again. ‘I hope this is the last one we are left out of’ Ali said to Sarah ‘we’ve been working really hard’

 

‘I think you’ll both be at the next one’ Ashlyn said ‘we can see how hard you’re working plus you’re both very talented I can’t wait until you two are in the squad’

 

‘Are you rooming with Megan Ash?’ Ali asked ‘you two will be coming up with all kinds of pranks if you are, far worse than Abby and Syd!’

 

‘Erm no we’re not this time’ Ashlyn said and tried to change the subject.

 

‘Well who are you with then?’ Ali asked wondering why Ashlyn was being evasive

 

‘Gemma’ Ashlyn said trying not to make a big deal out of it ‘Abby did you….’ Ashlyn started to say trying again to change the subject but Ali interrupted

 

‘Wait wait wait, what did you say?’ Ali said bringing the subject straight back to rooming ‘you cannot fucking be serious?’

 

‘It’s no big deal Ali, I didn’t get to choose who I’m with’ Ashlyn said

 

‘It is a big deal’ Ali said climbing off Ashlyn’s lap ‘after everything that’s happened how can you even contemplate sharing with her?’

 

‘Ali don’t’ Ashlyn said ‘we’re having a great evening please don’t let this spoil it’

 

‘Then room with someone else!’ Ali said jealously

 

‘I’ll go with Gemma’ Syd said wanting to keep the peace ‘you go with Abby Ashlyn’

 

‘There problem solved’ Ashlyn said but Ali shook her head

 

‘No. Partially solved’ Ali said ‘you should have said no the second she was paired with you, don’t you care how I feel?’

 

‘Of course I do!’ Ashlyn said ‘I just don’t see it as a big deal’

 

‘Are you ready to leave Megan?’ Ali asked ‘I’ll get a lift with you if you don’t mind’

 

‘Yeah that’s fine’ Megan said standing to leave she was disappointed for Ashlyn and Ali that the evening had gone sour.

 

‘I thought you were staying over?’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Yeah well things change Ashlyn’ Ali said clearly very jealous and angry about everything

 

Ali picked up her things and left with Megan without saying another word to Ashlyn.

 

‘For fucks sake’ Ashlyn said turning to Abby and Sarah ‘why does this always happen every time things are good between us something goes wrong. I’m fucking sick of relationships’ Ashlyn said and went off to her room.


	48. Home Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for my delay!

 

 

‘Hey’ Abby said when Ashlyn came out of her room the next morning, she’d obviously had a bad night ‘are you ok?’ she added

 

‘Yeah I suppose so’ Ashlyn said

 

‘You didn’t mean what you said last night about being sick of relationships did you?’ Abby asked

 

‘No, fuck no’ Ashlyn said ‘I was just angry’

 

‘Good’ Abby said

 

‘I’m not going running to her this time though. I think I need to stand up to Ali a bit better and stop being such a pushover. I’m not interested in Gemma but I get it that perhaps it wasn’t good timing us sharing. Still nothing would have happened and it’s resolved now. She can come to me’

 

‘I get it Ash but just don’t be too stubborn, she's been through a lot recently with your accident’ Abby said ‘and try to put yourself in her shoes, you’d hate it if she’d slept with someone else’

 

Ashlyn considered for a moment ‘well I’m here when she wants to talk’ she said eventually ‘and yes actually I’d hate it if she had slept with someone on our team, well anyone for that matter, but especially if it was someone on our team’.

 

Fortunately Ali had woken up feeling very different, she realised that it hadn’t been Ashlyn’s fault and she totally believed that Ashlyn hadn’t chosen to be with Gemma and nothing would have happened if they had ended up sharing. She looked at her phone quite convinced that Ashlyn would have made contact, she was surprised and disappointed to see no messages. It worried her and she messaged Ashlyn. Usually Ali would hold out and let Ashlyn come to her.

 

“Are you awake? x” Ali texted to Ashlyn

 

“Yes x” Ashlyn texted back and Ali wasn’t surprised by the cold and short reply

 

“I over reacted last night and I’m sorry. All I can say is that it made me feel jealous and worried. Look at it from my point of view - She knows how you taste and how it feels to be inside you and that bothers me x” Ali wrote being entirely honest with Ashlyn

 

The message took all the wind out of Ashlyn’s sails and she immediately forgave Ali.

 

“It’s fine Ali, I do understand why it upset you but you need to trust me better, you’re the only one for me and no one can come between that. It was a long time ago and I was very drunk at the time but I honestly think I just fingered her she didn’t touch me at all and I didn’t go down on her x

 

“Well that makes it a bit better. Tell me honestly have you slept with anyone else on the team?” Ali asked

 

“I slept with Rachel Harrington when I was new to the team and she was captain, but she's long gone as you know and it wasn’t a relationship, I also slept with Nicole Jones multiple times but again she's long gone from the team and I haven’t seen her since she retired x”

 

“You promise me no one else that I know? x” Ali asked

 

“Yes I promise. Do you want to come over? X” Ashlyn asked

 

“Ok I’ll come now x” Ali replied

 

‘Mom!’ Ali called going downstairs

 

‘Here darling’ her mom called from the kitchen and Ali walked in

 

‘I’m just going over to Ashlyn’s for a while’ Ali said

 

‘Do you know how long you’ll be? Sarah’s mom and I have booked a last minute spa weekend so I may not be here when you get back’ her mom told her

 

‘Oh ok, well I think I’ll be a while so I better say goodbye now’ Ali said thoughtfully thinking this would be a good opportunity to get some alone time with Ashlyn, she could invite her back to her house. Although they got privacy at Abby and Ashlyn’s house it wasn’t quite the same, as Abby or Sarah were always around and it worried Ali they’d be over heard

 

‘Ali I don’t want Ashlyn staying over while I’m away, she is welcome to visit of course but not stay the night. You’re young and impressionable and when I’m not here I worry things would go to a step that you aren’t ready for’ her mom said concerned

 

Ali had never managed to find the right moment to tell her mom that she and Ashlyn were now in a sexual relationship, she presumed she would have guessed due to the amount of nights Ali had spent there.

 

‘Yes ok’ Ali agreed though of course she was going to break that rule. She hugged and kissed her mom goodbye then went to Ashlyn’s house. They embraced for a long time both sorry for the fight they had had the night before.

 

‘Do you feel ok now?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Yes I do thank you’ Ali said ‘and I’ve got some news’

 

‘Oh…tell me more’ Ashlyn said and Ali saw a look of fear go over her face. Ashlyn was still scarred from the Germany incident.

 

‘It’s a good thing’ Ali quickly said and Ashlyn’s expression changed from fear to intrigue ‘my mom is going away for a few nights with Sarah’s mom so I was thinking you might like to stay and erm look after me while mom is away?’

 

‘Oh my god’ Ashlyn said grinning clearly thinking what Ali had thought earlier that it was a good chance for some total privacy ‘that sounds erm ideal’ Ashlyn said still grinning

 

‘I hoped you would think so’ Ali replied ‘wanna come over around 7pm tonight?’

 

‘I’ll be there’ Ashlyn said with a dirty grin and Ali returned the grin and left.

 

At 7pm that evening dinner was very nearly ready and the doorbell rang. Ashlyn was punctual as usual. Ali was being very daring she was wearing an apron with just see through lace underwear beneath it and was pleased to see that Ashlyn was in a suit also dressed up for the occasion.

 

After finishing embracing Ashlyn, Ali turned to walk to the kitchen which is when Ashlyn noticed Ali only had skimpy underwear on ‘fuck Ali!’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Something wrong?’ Ali asked innocently grinning

 

‘Not wrong, but certainly something’ Ashlyn said getting flustered and enjoying the view following Ali

 

They slowly enjoyed the meal that Ali had prepared for them over candlelight and then made their way to the sofa.

 

Ali kissed Ashlyn on the lips then moved to her face and neck then down the bare arm exposed from her short sleeved shirt all the way down to her hand ‘there’s something here that I want’ Ali said and she started to loosen the ring on Ashlyn’s finger – her ring

 

‘You’re ready?’ Ashlyn eagerly questioned and Ali nodded. The ring soon came loose and Ashlyn slipped it back on to Ali’s finger where it should have been all along ‘I’m so pleased’ Ashlyn whispered and Ali kissed her deep and passionate. It was a kiss that said more was to follow.


	49. Interrupted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your kudos let's me know that you want more of this. If you want more.....hit that button.

 

‘Shall we go and lie on the rug by the fire?’ Ali asked

 

‘Yeah let’s do that’ Ashlyn said and picked up a couple of blankets from the sofa. They sat down on one of the blankets and started kissing they were soon lying down and Ashlyn’s hands were wandering all over Ali

 

‘mmmm’ Ali moaned and Ashlyn grinned at her

 

‘Are you really ready for this?’ Ashlyn asked and Ali nodded. Ashlyn was so pleased that again things were returning to normal.

 

Ali suddenly stopped kissing Ashlyn and looked at her suggestively ‘me and Sarah went shopping earlier…’

 

‘Oh….’ Ashlyn said wondering where this was going

 

‘We went to the Northern Quarter’ Ali said

 

‘You and Sarah?!’ Ashlyn exclaimed. The Northern Quarter was an area full of sex shops and quite deviant.

 

‘I got something’ Ali grinned and Ashlyn grinned back. Ali got up and went over to behind the sofa she brought out a bag and surprised Ashlyn with a feeldoe style dildo (double ended dildo designed for the butch to fuck the femme hands free without a harness, while feeling it herself).

 

‘Fucking hell Ali’ Ashlyn said grinning, she hadn’t expected this ‘listen I want to do that with you, but we haven’t had sex for a while I think you need to get used to it again. That is big and it will hurt you’

 

‘Oh but I want to’ Ali said with her best puppy eyes look

 

‘Aww don’t look at me like that. I want to do it too but I know it’s going to hurt. I think we need to get you used to fingers again. Even 2 fingers will feel a bit sore when you haven’t done it for a while’ Ashlyn explained

 

‘Pleaseeeee’ Ali said still with her puppy eye look

 

‘Fuck I can’t resist those eyes as you well know’ Ashlyn said ‘we’ll slowly build up to it, as we have all night’

 

‘Yayyyy!’ Ali said and pulled Ashlyn back down onto the blanket. They started to kiss again and were both soon undressed and pulled the other blanket over them. Ashlyn began to touch Ali and she was disappointed to see that Ashlyn was right. 2 fingers did hurt again like the first time. Ashlyn was very gentle and the pain soon eased. Ali knew that really she should stop there for tonight and let Ashlyn get her off with her tongue but she wanted to go further.

 

‘Ali the difference between 2 fingers and a dildo this size is a lot’ Ashlyn said to her again ‘this is going to hurt and I really don’t like that’

 

‘Well I know but you had to hurt me the first time so I don’t think this is any different. It might hurt a bit at first but it will be worth it. We’ve waited a long time to reconnect and I want to do something new and exciting’ Ali said

 

‘I do too, but tell me if it is too much ok and I will do something else to you that you’ll like just as much’ Ashlyn said and Ali agreed.

 

Ali found it very sexy watching Ashlyn insert the “givers” side of the dildo and found her very attractive wearing it ‘fuck me’ she whispered and lay back with her legs open and Ashlyn between them.

 

Ashlyn carefully positioned herself between Ali’s legs and while kissing her began trying to insert. Ashlyn was right it did hurt, much more than Ali expected. She gently pushed on Ashlyn’s shoulders which Ashlyn immediately acknowledged as Ali’s way of telling her that it hurt too much ‘keep trying gently’ Ali said not wanting Ashlyn to give up.

 

Neither of them heard the front door open. They were too wrapped up in each other to notice anything else at all. The light suddenly came on and it gave Ashlyn such a fright that she fell into Ali.

 

Ali screamed in pain and Ashlyn nearly did too. She had pushed into Ali further than she was ready for and also the angle had really hurt her too. She quickly withdrew all in a split second and turned her head to see Ali’s sister Andrea stood there.

 

‘You fucking rapist! Get off my sister!’ Andrea yelled at Ashlyn coming over to her and trying to pull her off Ali.

 

‘Just fuck off!!!!!’ Ali screamed at her all her aggression coming out at how annoyed she was at being disturbed and how sore she was in between her legs ‘She’s no fucking rapist and I’m an adult not some kid anymore now fuck off and let us put some clothes on!’ and for once Andrea actually listened and went back out into the hallway.

 

‘Fuck I’m so sorry are you ok?’ Ashlyn asked quickly pulling the dildo out of herself so that Andrea would never know exactly what was going on ‘I just lost my balance and fell into you’. They both glanced down and could see blood on both ends of the dildo.

 

‘How dare she come round here spying on me like some little kid’ Ali said absolutely fuming ‘I don’t even have any clothes to put on’ she said remembering that all she had been wearing was her underwear and the apron ‘this is so embarrassing’ Ali said putting her knickers back on.

 

‘Put the T-shirt on that I had under my shirt’ Ashlyn said handing it to Ali fortunately it was big on her so covered her properly down to mid thigh almost

 

‘I better go and face the music’ Ali said while Ashlyn continued to get dressed

 

‘Do you want me to come?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘No’ Ali replied ‘she isn’t your sister so there’s nothing for you to have to say to her. Plus I know she’ll hit you and you won’t hit her back like she deserves’

 

‘Why are you here?!’ Ashlyn heard Ali yell as she walked into the hallway to face Andrea

 

‘Because I knew she’d do this!’ Andrea replied ‘the second mom was away I knew she’d come here and force you into having sex with her’

 

‘Is that what you think?’ Ali said ‘you really think I’m that innocent and still some stupid kid that hasn’t even got sexual feelings yet with a girl I’ve been with for nearly a year? Fuck you’re so naive Andrea’

 

Andrea absolutely hated that ‘I’m not naïve I can see you’re bleeding so that was obviously your first time’

 

‘No it wasn’t!!! You gave her such a fright that she fell into me! We’ve been having sex for ages’ Ali screamed

 

Andrea hated hearing this. Ashlyn sat in the front room with her head in her hands listening to them, and hated to admit it to herself, but she understood. Andrea was actually just protecting Ali but she was treating her like a kid.

 

‘Wait till mom hears about this, she’ll be disgusted Ali’ Andrea said with such venom

 

‘You want mom to find out like this?! It isn’t your event to tell mom about! It’s down to me to tell her when I’m ready and the time is right. It isn’t for you to tell her’

 

‘Ashley needs to leave now’ Andrea said

 

‘No’ Ali said back quietly but firmly

 

‘Yes now’ Andrea said back just as firmly

 

‘No fucking no!!!’ Ali yelled again ‘Her name is Ashlyn as you well know stop fucking saying it wrong. I’m an adult and you and mom need to start treating me like that. It’s pathetic telling me, an adult, that I can’t have my girlfriend stay the night in my own house because of “what she might do to me” we’ve been having sex for months and it was all instigated by me. Now you’ve ruined my perfect evening and I want you to leave not her’

 

Ashlyn walked into the hallway at that moment ‘you heard her’ Ashlyn repeated ‘just leave, you aren’t needed here and no one wants you here’

 

‘You tell mom whatever you want, I’m too old for this and I’m sick of you all treating me like a baby’ Ali said to Andrea

 

Andrea gave Ali a very firm look, then gave Ashlyn an even worse look, and much to their surprise she actually left without another word.

 

Ali and Ashlyn went back into the front room.

 

‘I’m sorry about that’ Ali said. It was the first time Ashlyn had seen Ali as an equal instead of someone very much younger than her that needed protecting. Ali had really stood up to Andrea tonight instead of acting like the “little sister” as usual ‘I’m not putting up with this shit anymore’

 

‘You’re right not to, you’re too old for it’ Ashlyn said agreeing with Ali ‘listen Ali are you ok, I fell into you quite hard I know you’re bleeding’

 

‘You were right’ Ali said and to Ashlyn’s pleasure she actually turned and smiled at her ‘it did really hurt! I know it’s hurt you as well though, it wasn’t just my side with blood on it’

 

‘I fell at a bad angle’ Ashlyn said for once not denying that she was hurt and not trying to be the butch protector

 

‘Soothing bath?’ Ali asked and Ashlyn grinned and took Ali’s hand leading her upstairs.

 

 


	50. The Olympic Games

 

Ashlyn went home the next day in the afternoon. Abby was sat on the sofa. Ashlyn expected Abby to give her a good grilling over the night before as Sarah would have been bound to tell her exactly what she and Ali had been shopping for the day before.

 

‘Hey’ Abby said seeing Ashlyn come in ‘good night?’ She asked and seemed to have no curiosity about her at all.

 

‘Certainly interesting….’ Ashlyn said giving Abby an opportunity to steer the subject if she wanted to. She didn’t though

 

‘You don’t know do you?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Know what?’ Abby asked puzzled

 

‘Me and Ali tried a dildo last night’ Ashlyn said and Abby suddenly sat up grinning

 

‘No how would I know?’ Abby asked

 

‘Sarah went shopping with Ali for it yesterday so I thought she might have told you’ Ashlyn explained

 

‘You can trust Sarah’ Abby said proudly

 

‘I know’ Ashlyn said ‘I just thought, well maybe she would have told you. Have you and Sarah tried it yet?’

 

‘No’ Abby said quickly ‘how did it go?’

 

‘Well it was actually the first time since before my accident that we did anything, so I warned her it might hurt’

 

‘You know I never really cared too much about that before Sarah. I mean I always tried to be very gentle and not hurt anyone but I wasn’t that bothered. With Sarah it absolutely kills me when I hurt her’ Abby said

 

‘I know me too. It hurt too much, I couldn’t get it in, but we kept trying because she wanted to, and then oh my god the worst thing happened’

 

‘Fuck what?’ Abby asked

 

‘Think about what would be the worst thing Abby’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘Hmm well for me it would be Sarah’s mom walking in when we are in the middle of something’ Abby said thoughtfully

 

‘Close enough. Ali’s sister Andrea walked in’ Ashlyn explained

 

‘Is she the one that doesn’t like you?’ Abby asked

 

‘Yeah, she absolutely hates me and Ali hasn’t told her mom that we’re sleeping together, and she was stood there threatening to tell their mom’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Oh god that would be awful, is she going to tell her do you think?’ Abby asked

 

‘No. I don’t think she will. Ali really finally stood up to Andrea, instead of being her little sister she really stood her ground and Andrea actually left’

 

‘Wow that is an improvement’ Abby said

 

‘I’m so proud of Ali’ Ashlyn said then she sat down ‘ow fuck’ she said sitting down too quickly

 

‘What?’ Abby asked

 

‘It was one of those feeldoe dildos we tried, and when Andrea came into the room I fell into Ali and really hurt both of us!’ Ashlyn said

 

Abby giggled ‘you’re an idiot Ash, always have been, fuck that could only happen to you!’ and Ashlyn agreed.

 

The Olympics were approaching. It was a close call between the Olympics and the world cup as to which was the most important. The world cup just about won the contest however no American player felt truly complete unless they won both medals at least once over their career.

 

Sarah and Ali had hugely progressed since the last tournament, when they hadn't been on the squad, and had a good chance at being chosen.

 

‘The waiting is just horrible’ Ali said to the others

 

‘I know, it’s the worst part’ Abby said

 

‘You’re the one out of us that’s guaranteed to be going Abby’ Sarah said ‘I think you have no clue how it feels to be fighting for a place’

 

Abby shrugged ‘nothing is ever guaranteed, trust me I worry too, plus it’s difficult having a new coach you never know if your playing style will suit them’

 

‘Tell me about it’ Ashlyn said ‘I have this horrible feeling that I am losing my number one place, the new coach doesn’t seem to have any faith in me at all’

 

‘Of course you aren’t!’ Ali told her but Abby felt a little concerned she too had noticed the same as Ashlyn.

 

Later that afternoon Ashlyn and Ali were behind the equipment shed. They were kissing intimately and Ashlyn had her hands under Ali’s top.

 

They suddenly heard someone clear their throat behind them and quickly pulled apart.

 

‘Oh sorry coach’ Ashlyn started ‘we were just erm erm’ Ashlyn said then turned to Ali unable to think of an excuse

 

‘We were just helping to pass the time so we can quickly get back to our afternoon session’ Ali said also unable to think of anything else to say.

 

While under their last coach there had been no formal rule about inter-team dating it was quite widely thought of as an unsaid rule that generally wouldn’t be enforced unless problems emerged.

 

‘Let’s just get back and join the rest of the team shall we?’ the new coach said and they could tell she wasn’t impressed at all. They told Abby and Sarah what had happened.

 

‘Hmm’ Abby said ‘that doesn’t sound good, Pia was fine with this kind of stuff as long as we behaved professionally and it didn’t interfere with anything. We’ve had couples on the team before and it’s not been a problem. I think we need to not be intimate with each other at the club from now on’

 

The others all agreed, and fortunately nothing more was said.

 

Ali and Ashlyn were starting to find themselves being benched more and more often. They were both annoyed by it and couldn’t help but wonder if it related to them being caught kissing ‘I bet she fancies you’ Ashlyn whispered to Ali one day while they were sat on the bench

 

‘Ewww Ash don’t even go there! What a horrible thought’ Ali said

 

The day the roster was to be announced had arrived and only 18 people would make the team. This coach was cruel she didn’t handle things privately, if you fucked up in training you were called out in front of everyone and now she was going to read out the roster to everyone, instead of calling people privately.

 

Ashlyn had been number 1 for around 18 months now and Pia had really praised her progress. Sarah also was highly commended for her pace, Ali was being talked about in the press as having the potential to be the finest right back in the world, and Abby was also highly regarded as likely to end her career as the highest scorer of all time.

 

‘The roster is nearly complete, just a couple of uncertainties but if I read out your name now then you are in. Mary Wambach’ she read out first and Abby was very pleased she’d been to the Olympics before and won gold but was desperate to go again.

 

‘Mary?!’ Ali said and giggled ‘who the fuck is Mary?’

 

‘My real name’ Abby said with a grin

 

‘Oh my god Abby that’s so femme’ Ali said and they all laughed at the fact that Ali had never known Abby’s real name.

 

Another few names were read out and then came ‘Sarah Huffman’ Sarah was absolutely thrilled and the others were all so pleased for her, they knew her mom would be over the moon and so proud.

 

The names kept being slowly read out as if to torture them.

Ashlyn leaned over to Abby and whispered ‘are you counting Abby? I’m sure that was person number 16 she just read out and she hasn’t mentioned either me or Ali yet?’

 

‘Yes I’m counting and I thought it was 16 too, fuck you 2 better be read out next’ Abby said, the tournament wouldn’t be the same without them.

 

‘….and next will be Gemma Ford’ the coach read out and Ali and Ashlyn’s hearts sank. One of them definitely wasn’t going.

 

‘The final place is to be decided’ the coach said followed by ‘Ashlyn Harris and Alexandra Krieger come to my office’

 

Ali and Ashlyn looked at each other. They felt they knew what was coming, she was going to tell them that only one of them was going to make the squad. It was horrible.

 

‘Alexandra?’ Abby questioned but not in a joking way

 

‘That’s me’ Ali sighed

 

‘I had no idea that was your name either’ Abby said

 

‘Doesn’t really suit me does it?’ Ali said

 

‘Well it’s a beautiful name, but Ali is far cuter and suits you more’ Abby said

 

Ali gave her a small smile then followed Ashlyn into the coach’s office.

 

‘Take a seat’ the coach said and they both sat down ‘I’m not going to beat around the bush, I don’t feel that either of you are 100% focussed at the moment’

 

Ali and Ashlyn didn’t look at each other, however both privately thought that was utter bullshit they couldn’t be more focussed and were both on the best form possible. It was insulting and seemed so unfair.

 

‘I’m arranging a practise game next week and you two will be on opposite teams. Ashlyn I expect a total shut out and Ali I want to see that you can be offensive as well as defensive I’m expecting a goal from you or at very least some decent shots on target. You’ll be on opposite teams’ she said again highlighting that fact to them.

 

‘Wait’ Ali began ‘so you’re basically saying that I need to score on Ashlyn in order to go to the Olympics, and she needs to save it in order for her to go?’

 

‘Basically yes’ the new coach confirmed

 

‘But we’re lovers, trust me we put our professional career first but at the end of the day we are lovers’ Ali said ‘it will be extremely hard for one of us to end the other’s dreams’

 

‘Then you can show me just how professional you both are, because at the moment I’m not seeing it.’

 

‘What if Ashlyn keeps a clean sheet and I don’t score but get some very good shots on target?’ Ali asked

 

‘Then you will take a penalty at the end Ali’ the coach said and they both stared at her open mouthed.

 

‘That’s all, you can both go’ the new coach said.

 

Ali and Ashlyn left the room, they looked at each other as soon as they had closed the door but didn’t say anything. They walked to Ashlyn’s car in silence.


	51. The Worst Match of All

‘I can’t fucking believe this’ Ashlyn began when they were finally alone and couldn't be over heard ‘I’ve been number 1 for the last 18 months and now it seems I’m not even number 2’

‘You have nothing to worry about’ Ali told her ‘it’s far easier to save a goal than it is to score one’

‘Is that what you think?!’ Ashlyn said turning to Ali in surprise ‘Jesus Ali you have no idea how it is to put your body on the line to try and stop a goal, do you have any idea how battered I get out there?’

‘Yeah, I just feel that it is easier unless it is a case of penalties. I can’t believe she’s done this’ Ali said

‘I can’t believe you said that’ Ashlyn told her ‘it is not fucking easy’

‘This is exactly what she wants’ Ali said folding her arms

‘What?’ Ashlyn asked

‘That fucking stupid new coach, she wants to make us fight and now we are. I think she has a massive problem with inter-team dating’ Ali said

‘I still think she fancies you and she’s jealous’ Ashlyn said

‘You always think that Ashlyn’ Ali told her

‘For fucks sake Ali you sound like you’re looking for a fight’ Ashlyn said

‘I’m not……I’m just’ Ali began and then paused for a moment ‘I’m just fucking sick of today and I want to go home’

‘Fine, I’ll be glad to take you’ Ashlyn said clearly pissed off and starting the engine. They drove to Ali’s house in silence. Ashlyn didn’t stop the engine when they arrived. Ali waited for her to do so but she didn’t, so she just made a loud tutting noise then opened the door and got out without a kiss or saying a word to Ashlyn.

Ashlyn put her foot to the floor and drove home without even bothering to see if Ali got in safely. By the time Ashlyn reached her house she was regretting that. She always looked after Ali no matter what was happening.

She walked into the house and Sarah was there with Abby.

‘Are you okay Ash?’ Abby asked seeing her face like thunder

‘Not really, listen Sarah can you just text Ali and ask if she’s home safely please?’ Ashlyn asked

‘Yeah of course’ Sarah said looking a bit puzzled but she took out her phone and did it anyway

“Are you home safely Ali? x” Sarah asked

“Yes, I’m fine x” Ali replied 

“Ashlyn wanted to know if you’re safe and I wanted to know if you are okay x” Sarah explained

Ali felt comforted that Ashlyn had quickly followed up to make sure she was home safely “I’ll tell you all about it later, I’m too mad at the moment x” Ali sent to Sarah.

 

The next morning came round too quickly for both Ali and Ashlyn. They were both regretting the fight they’d had but neither felt willing to make the first move to say sorry.

Ali walked to training by herself, Abby had offered to pick her up but she declined. She saw Abby’s car in the car park and hesitated for a moment, she really didn’t want to face Ashlyn. She finally reasoned with herself that she wouldn’t be facing Ashlyn alone, the others would be there so nothing would be said.

Ali walked into the locker room, she walked over to her friends as usual.

‘Morning’ Ali said to Sarah unintentionally coldly

‘Morning’ Sarah said back trying to smile and break the awkward atmosphere

‘Moring’ Ali then said to Abby

‘Morning’ Abby said back looking at bit puzzled

‘Morning’ Ali then said to Ashlyn barely looking her in the eye

‘Hi’ Ashlyn said quietly to Ali as if she was a stranger.

‘What the fuck was that?’ Abby whispered to Sarah

‘They’re sort of in a fight, but don’t want to be. Look at them both stealing looks at each other when the other isn’t looking’ Sarah said observing them both

‘I hate that the coach has done this, they both lose whatever happens’ Abby said

‘Well sort of’ Sarah agreed ‘whoever is left behind loses more, could you imagine the 3 of us going off to the Olympics without you?’

‘No’ Abby confirmed ‘it would probably scar me for life’

They stopped talking then as Ashlyn came closer and was in ear shot. The coach came in at that moment.

‘I mean it you two’ she said to Ali and Ashlyn ‘you need to score and you need a shut out. Right’ she said now addressing everyone ‘here are today’s teams’ she read the teams out and Ali and Abby were on one team with Sarah and Ashlyn on the other. The French international team were in town so the coach had arranged for 11 of their players to be on the teams as well. It made it worse for Ali and Ashlyn that a lot of their team mates were sat on the bench watching for one of them to fuck up.

Sarah felt awkward, she knew her job was to help keep the ball away from the goal but that might mean shattering Ali’s dreams, yet if she didn’t do that then it might mean shattering Ashlyn’s dreams. She suddenly felt very nervous and uncomfortable but didn’t say anything. Instead she focussed on Abby, who was no longer her girlfriend but just the number 20 shirt on the opposing team. She watched Abby trying to psyche Ashlyn out by staring at her unblinkingly.

‘This pitch is a disgrace’ Abby said to the coach when they got outside ‘it’s rock solid, falling on this will be like falling on concrete’

‘I know’ the coach confirmed ‘but Sports USA just doesn’t care about football so the budget is low’

Abby walked off with a snort telling Ali to pull her socks up over her knees just in case. Sarah was disappointed that Abby didn’t say the same to her, Abby really did totally separate her private and professional life.

The game finally started and got off to a slow start with most of the possession in the centre of the field and no real tackles, then suddenly Ali managed to get the ball and ran swiftly down the right side, Sarah came out to shut her down and Ali slammed her studs into Sarah’s ankle deliberately slyly hurting her. Abby reached them at that moment and she slammed her studs into the other side of Sarah’s ankle also deliberately. It hurt so much that she lost concentration momentarily and Abby who now had possession passed the ball to Ali for her to take a shot on target. Ashlyn made a beautiful save.

‘Superb goal keeping!’ the coach yelled from the sidelines and Ali knew now that the momentum was with Ashlyn. That fired her up even more.

At half time the coach did something really odd, she switched Sarah onto Abby’s team.

‘I don’t understand why she’s done that’ Ashlyn said in the locker room with Sarah while Sarah was changing her shirt

‘Neither do I, other than to wrong foot you as she knows we are friends and now you have all three of your best friends against you’ Sarah said

‘It wouldn’t surprise me at all if that’s why she’s done it’ Ashlyn said and they walked back out. A lot was at stake and Ashlyn was worried. 

The second half was surprisingly quiet, Ashlyn made a couple of easy saves but Ali struggled to get on the ball. She finally managed it in the 80th minute and again ran with pace down the right side. She put in a cross to Abby who wasn’t in a position to score and instead tapped the ball to Sarah while Ali and Abby both got into better positions. Sarah returned the ball to Abby who then got it to Ali. And that’s when it happened.

Ali managed to take a quite long range shot towards the far corner of Ashlyn’s goal on the left. Ashlyn took a really hard dive to try and stop the ball. She slid along the rock solid surface on her bare elbow but just couldn’t reach the ball and it went in the back of the net.

Ali screamed with joy. She was going to the Olympics. Her team surrounded her congratulating her and then she suddenly wasn’t number 11 anymore, she was Ali. She turned to the goal and Ashlyn was still on the floor her head looking up resting on her hands. Her stare was blank and straight ahead. 

Ashlyn slowly pulled herself up realising what had happened. Ali had scored and now she wasn’t going to the Olympics. Sarah reached Ashlyn first. She was saying something but Ashlyn couldn’t hear her, all she could hear was the screaming in her own head repeatedly of fuck fuck fuck! Eventually she tuned that out and heard Sarah 

‘It’s really bad, you’re dripping blood it’s so bad’ Sarah was saying

‘What is?’ Ashlyn asked vaguely

‘You’re left elbow, can’t you feel it?!’ Sarah exclaimed. Ali arrived at that point looking very guilty and anxious

‘You need to get that seen to’ she said unsure what else to say

‘No I don’t’ Ashlyn said looking down at her elbow and forearm, they were actually really badly bleeding but she didn’t care ‘it doesn’t even hurt anyway, I’m too hurt elsewhere to feel it’ she added as a dig at Ali

‘Time out!’ the coach called as she came over seeing Ashlyn’s arm. There wasn’t usually a time out in football but this was just a practise session so she could do what she wanted ‘Harris go inside and get that arm seen to’

Sarah saw Ashlyn about to argue ‘come with me’ she said slipping her hand into Ashlyn’s. She knew Ashlyn wouldn’t pull away from her and she led her inside. Sarah looked behind her anxiously while still leading Ashlyn to the first aid room. Neither of them said anything, but Ashlyn had noted the anxious look and felt some limited comfort by it. Ashlyn was so angry that her mind wondered somewhere it never had before. She thought about if things had been the other way round and she and Sarah had fancied each other and Ali had fancied Abby. Sarah was always sweet and in that moment Ashlyn briefly wished it was Sarah she had feelings for.

‘Do you want me to stay?’ Sarah asked while Ashlyn’s arm was being seen to

‘No, I’ll be back out in a minute’ Ashlyn said quite gruffly ‘oh and Sarah’ she called after her

‘Yeah?’ Sarah said turning sadly back to Ashlyn

‘Thank you’ Ashlyn said then looked away.

‘Is she ok?’ Ali asked when Sarah came back out

‘I think so’ Sarah said not really sure what else to say, she ran off away from Ali and Abby to avoid any further questions though Abby didn’t seem bothered, she was still just shirt number 20.

Ashlyn came back out around 10 minutes later all bandaged up but still numb. She went back into the goal and watched Abby have a huddle with her team she knew exactly what Abby would be saying to her team.

‘Attack down our right side and aim for her left of the goal’ Abby said

‘But that’s the side she's hurt her arm, if she falls on it again she’ll be crippled with pain’ Sarah said surprised at Abby

‘Use your head Huffman, that’s kind of the point!’ Abby said back to her very firmly and condescendingly.

Sarah looked at Abby in surprise, she’d never called her Huffman before. Sarah supposed Abby had done it to try and desensitise herself from her but it still hurt her.

‘Whatever you say Wambach’ Sarah said very coldly and pointedly at Abby who acted like she hadn’t noticed.

‘Right 10 minutes remaining’ the coach said and blew her whistle to start the game again.

Ali did exactly what Abby said and after 5 minutes she very nearly scored again. Ashlyn had to take another fall on her bad arm but just managed to get her fingertips to Ali’s shot on target. She couldn’t catch the ball only push it out. Her arm really hurt this time, she felt it and it brought tears to her eyes she was slightly blinded by her stinging eyes and struggled to get to her feet when Abby added insult to injury by scoring off the ball Ashlyn had fumbled.

Ashlyn put her head in her hands while listening to them all cheering. The 89th minute came round and Ashlyn couldn’t wait to get off the pitch. Abby suddenly noticed Sarah unmarked by the goal and put a cross in to her. Ashlyn was at the far side of the goal expecting Abby to take a shot, not expecting her to pass it to Sarah, and not expecting Sarah to be so unmarked.

‘Defence where the fuck are you?!’ Ashlyn yelled at no one in particular

Sarah in a split second took the decision not to score. She put the ball wide of an almost open net.

‘HOW DID YOU FUCKING MISS THAT HUFFMAN?!!!!’ Abby yelled at her

‘HUFFMAN!!!’ Sarah then heard shouted behind her so loudly that it made her jump ‘how did you manage to miss that almost open goal?? Did you deliberately put the ball wide?!’ The coach yelled at her

‘No’ Sarah said as innocently as she could unable to tell the truth. She realised as soon as she had done it that it was a mistake but she had a big heart and couldn’t bear to make Ashlyn feel any worse.

‘Come to my office the second the match is over!’ The coach yelled at her

A minute later she blew her whistle and went straight to her office to wait for Sarah.

‘I better face the music’ Sarah said sighing to Ali. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Abby, and Ashlyn was already half way to the locker room.


	52. Sarah's Revenge

 

 

Ali and Abby stayed out on the pitch for a few minutes signing some fans autographs

 

‘Are you going to the Olympics?’ one asked Ali

 

‘Erm I’m not sure yet it hasn’t been announced’ Ali said

 

‘Is Ashlyn ok? That fall looked bad’ another said

 

‘Oh she’ll be fine’ Abby said

 

‘So much for Krashlyn when she scores on her own girl’ a fan wearing a “Harris” shirt muttered to her friend next to her who nodded her head in agreement

 

‘We can’t take friendships into account when we’re on the pitch’ Ali said to the fan unsure what else to say

 

‘Tell that to Huffman’ another fan said ‘she knows what friendship is’

 

‘Right let’s go’ Abby said leading Ali away

 

‘But you haven’t signed my shirt yet!’ another fan yelled ‘I’ve been stood out here for 4 hours!’

 

‘Sorry’ Ali said while allowing herself to be led away by Abby

 

‘Everyone always says how nice Krieger is but she isn’t at all what a total tit’ Ali heard from behind her ‘I’m not bothering with her orthis team anymore’

 

‘Did you hear what she called me?!’ Ali said in shock to Abby

 

‘It comes with the territory Ali, I’ve been called far worse’ Abby said

 

They went back to the locker room expecting to see Ashlyn there but she wasn’t. A lot of the team mates who weren’t playing had come into the room

 

‘It’s very crowded in here’ the assistant coach said ‘Abby, Ali take Sarah’s things and your own and go to the away team changing rooms. I’ll let Sarah know to join you there’

 

‘Abby can you take my things as well please, I’m going to look for Ashlyn’ Ali said

 

Ali went to the first aid room to see if Ashlyn was in there again but she wasn’t. Ali concluded that she must be in the bathroom having some private time to herself and went over to the away team locker room.

 

‘No sign of Ashlyn’ Ali reported ‘and I see Sarah’s not back yet either’ Ali said

 

‘No not yet. I’m dreading seeing her ankle later if she stays over tonight I kicked her very hard’ Abby said

 

‘I know me too, but I felt I had no option, the same as scoring on Ashlyn I felt I had no choice’ Ali said

 

‘Oh here she is now’ Abby said seeing Sarah come into the room. Her eyes were all red and she could barely hide that she had been crying

 

‘Come here’ Abby said to her ‘I’m your girlfriend again not that horrible bitch from the pitch’ Abby said trying to make Sarah laugh but it didn’t work. Sarah couldn’t distance herself like Abby could.

 

‘Just leave me please Abby’ Sarah said and then she noticed behind her that the away team changing rooms at this pitch only had a block of showers instead of private cubicles. Several of the French girls were in there naked and Sarah made a bit of a puzzled face at Ali.

 

 

‘That’s how they do it in Europe’ Ali said trying not to grin ‘was it bad?’ she whispered to Sarah, enquiring about her interview with the coach and Sarah nodded.

 

‘She said my place at the Olympics is now up for debate’ Sarah said and Abby and Ali gasped

 

‘She can’t take that away from you over a goal miss!’ Abby and Ali exclaimed

 

‘It wasn’t that I missed, I just didn’t want to do that to Ashlyn’ Sarah said ‘two goals and maybe she still has a chance but a third would have sealed it’

 

‘Did you admit that to the coach?’ Ali asked

 

‘Yes’ Sarah sniffed

 

Abby sighed ‘well don’t worry you will be going, I’ll see to that’

 

‘I wish you could’ Sarah said answering even though she really didn’t want to talk to Abby and not realising how much hold Abby actually had on the team coach.

 

‘You go and wash your face in the bathroom and then you come straight back to me ok?’ Abby said and Sarah shook her head. Abby had been particularly horrible that match and Sarah simply couldn’t leave behind the bad feeling she had from the pitch. Sarah wasn’t stupid and wasn’t forgiving either. She realised how she could really annoy Abby and tie her up in knots.

 

‘I don’t need to go to the bathroom I can just shower here’ Sarah replied and to Abby’s horror Sarah started to get undressed.

 

‘Erm Sarah what are you doing?’ Abby asked

 

‘What does it look like?’ Sarah replied rudely then took off her underwear while Ali and Abby watched in disbelief. Ali slowly worked out that Sarah was doing this to annoy Abby. None of their usual team mates were there so Sarah wasn’t bothered about the French girls seeing her with no clothes on.

 

‘Sarah I really don’t want you to do this’ Abby said ‘I know I’ve upset you and I’m sorry about it, please at least put your underwear back on’

 

‘My body my choice Wambach’ Sarah said very firmly and walked off into the shower. She washed her hair and body and face. She felt much better for it, it really had been a horrible match she leaned against the wall with her eyes closed and just let the water cascade over her.

 

‘She’s looking very toned’ Ali said unable to help herself to Abby and Abby noticed that the French girls had also quickly picked up on the very nice looking American girl that had joined them.

 

‘Just don’t Ali’ Abby said clenching and unclenching her fists. She knew Sarah had done this to punish her and it had worked Abby was so consumed with jealously she couldn’t even think straight ‘Ashlyn better not come in’ Abby muttered.

 

Sarah continued to enjoy the hot water it was very soothing and she was in no rush to leave the showers.

 

‘Abby will you look away please I want to shower as well’ Ali said

 

‘Yes of course, but just remember if Ashlyn comes in she’s gonna be really upset seeing you undressed with all those girls here’ Abby said and turned away from Ali while she undressed and went to the shower.

 

A couple of the French girls that didn’t know Abby was dating Sarah, were starting to check out Sarah. The way she was standing leaning her shoulders against the wall was projecting the rest of her body forwards and giving the French girls a good view. One of them made the mistake of pointing 2 fingers at Sarah’s pussy pretending to finger her ‘tight American virgin pussy’ she said to her teammates in English. Ali unfortunately heard it.

 

‘Nice rapist comment’ Ali said to the French girl who was immediately embarrassed by her comment.

 

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean that I would touch her without permission it was just a joke’ the French girl said

 

‘Yeah ok’ Ali said not wanting to make a big deal out of it ‘just bear in mind that she’s Abby Wambach’s girlfriend’ and the French girl immediately apologised again relieved that Abby hadn’t seen or heard. Sarah hadn’t noticed anything was going on and soon went back to the locker room to get her towel.

 

‘Are we even now?’ Abby asked Sarah wrapping a big towel around her. She was so jealous it was burning inside but she didn’t want to be in a fight with Sarah.

 

Sarah nodded and sat on Abby’s lap and started crying again. Abby wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly. Ali watched them seeing how much Abby loved her, she admired how Abby managed to separate completely football and her relationship. Sarah couldn’t do the same but she’d made sure that Abby paid for her treatment of her.

 

Ali came out and joined them, Abby looked away respectfully while Ali wrapped her towel around herself.

 

‘Excuse me a minute Ali and Sarah, I’m gonna have a little word with the coach’ Abby said and she went off to the coach’s office and knocked on the door. She didn’t wait for “come in” she just walked straight in.

 

‘Yes Abby wha…..’ she started but Abby interrupted

 

‘Just so you know coach, if you don’t take Huffman to the Olympics, you don’t take me’ Abby told her and left the room, knowing full well that both her place and Sarah’s were safe.

 

Abby returned to the locker room to find that Sarah was missing.

 

‘She’s gone off to our own changing room to collect something from her locker, I told her to tell Ashlyn to come and join us now’ Ali said

 

Abby buried her face in her towel for a few moments then looked up and spoke to Ali ‘Sarah’s too soft for this game’

 

‘I know’ Ali agreed quietly ‘the very thing that makes me want to be her best friend is going to kill her career’

 

‘Same. I love her so much because she is such a sweet girl, but on the pitch that just doesn’t work’ Abby said

 

Sarah appeared again at that moment.

 

‘Aww’ Abby said looking at her ‘you look more like you again now’ she said putting her arm around Sarah

 

‘Will Ashlyn be here in a minute?’ Ali asked

 

‘Oh she wasn’t there’ Sarah said and Ali looked worried

 

She ran all over the club to try and find her but she wasn’t anywhere, she came back to Abby and Sarah in the locker room.

 

‘I can’t find her anywhere!’ Ali said frantically


	53. Where is Ashlyn?

 

 

‘She must be here!’ Abby said ‘come on lets go back to our locker room’. They rushed back over to their own locker room and Abby went over to Ashlyn’s locker and opened it

 

‘Fuck it, her stuff’s gone’ Abby said staring at the empty locker ‘ _all_ her stuff, she doesn’t usually take everything she normally leaves some clothes here’

 

‘You don’t think she’s quit do you?’ Sarah asked quietly

 

‘I don’t care if she’s quit!’ Ali suddenly cried out ‘where the fuck is she?!’

 

*Earlier*

 

The trainer finished cleaning Ashlyn’s arm, it was really badly bleeding and starting to throb she still didn’t fully feel it though. She left the room after it was all clean and bandaged.

 

Ashlyn walked back out into the corridor her head in a whirl as she tried to accept that she really wasn’t going to the Olympics. She didn’t want to see the others again, while she knew they wouldn’t gloat she also knew they wouldn’t understand how she felt.

 

She made the decision that she would see out the match then leave straight away. She wouldn’t go home, she needed some time to herself. As much as the others were still her friends she felt bitter towards Ali and Abby for ruining her dreams. She got her bag packed and put it ready by the door so she could leave straight away then sighed to herself and made her way back out to the field and face the last 10 minutes.

 

The second the match was over she switched off her phone and walked off with no plan on where she was going.

 

*Present time again*

 

Ali had again rushed all over the club frantically looking for Ashlyn ‘God Abby where would she go? Do you think she’ll be at home?’

 

‘It’s very possible, I mean where else could she go? Try phoning her Ali’ Abby replied

 

Ali took out her phone it went straight to voicemail, she sent a message “PLEASE contact me, I need to know you’re ok xx”

 

‘Abby you try’ Ali said ‘maybe she’s blocked me’

 

Abby tried and also went to voicemail ‘Sarah you try’ Abby said convinced Ashlyn would never block Sarah, plus she hadn’t done anything wrong, in fact quite the opposite.

 

Sarah went straight to voicemail too ‘she must have switched it off’ Sarah said looking concerned

 

‘Will you text her Sarah and ask her to get in touch with you, out of the three of us you are the one she is most likely to want to talk to’ Ali pleaded and Sarah did but no reply came.

 

‘Fuck where is she?’ Ali said anxiously ‘why did the coach do this to us, one of us was going to get seriously hurt and that’s what has happened. I feel so bad, I’m sure I’d feel less bad if it was her that was going to the Olympics and me staying at home, I’m so worried’

 

‘Look Ali it seems wrong now but you did what you had to do’ Abby said

 

‘Well I wish I hadn’t, this is totally out of character’ Ali said ‘Let’s go to your house Abby just in case she’s gone home’

 

They rushed to Abby’s house and noticed Ashlyn’s car was missing and some of her stuff.

 

‘All we can do is wait here until she comes home again’ Abby said ‘the fact that her stuff and car are missing shows that this is intentional’

 

‘I can’t just sit here, where would she go?’ Ali asked

 

‘I really don’t know’ Abby said ‘she kind of doesn’t have anywhere else to go’

 

‘Would she go to her mom’s?’ Ali asked

 

‘No’ Abby replied firmly

 

‘How can you be so sure?’ Ali asked

 

Abby sighed ‘has she never told you that story?’

 

‘Not in detail no’ Ali said

 

‘Ok well the short version of the story is that Ashlyn has 2 older sisters 10 and 12 years older than her, she was an accident and her mom didn’t want her but she wanted the money she could claim for her from the welfare state. Ashlyn basically dragged herself up with an addict mom and 2 sisters that went the same way. Her mom encouraged her sisters to attack her even when she was a very small child. So all she knew was beatings and not being looked after or cared about at all. We met when we were both 12 and I slowly worked out that something was seriously wrong, she ran away when she was 14 and her family didn’t try to find her. Myself and my family did try to find her and when we found her my mom insisted she come and live with us and my mom was her guardian until she was 18, but we all lived together at my mom’s house until we were 22 that’s when me and Ashlyn moved into this house.’

 

‘I knew she was abused but not to this extent’ Ali said horrified

 

‘It’s even worse than what happened to me’ Sarah said ‘at least I had a mom that loved me she had no one’

 

‘Where the fuck is she Abby’ Ali said desperately

 

‘Ali I can’t just pull her out of my ass you know’ Abby said snapping, thinking about Ashlyn when she had been younger suddenly triggered something in Abby ‘you femmes are all the same you think that we butches can just put everything right for you in a heart beat and we can’t, we have our own problems.’

 

‘I know that!’ Ali yelled back at Abby

 

‘This is her dream, this is for her to prove to herself that she is worth something and that she matters’ Abby said irate

 

‘Oh fuck off trying to make me feel bad for this, you scored on her too!’ Ali said

 

‘So what! It was your goal that caused this’ Abby said not yelling but very pissed off

 

‘I had to! You said yourself just 20 minutes ago that I did what I had to do!’ Ali screamed

 

‘Yeah that was when we were at the club, we aren’t now and I’m worried about her’ Abby said

 

‘None of this matters, all that matters is her!’ Ali screamed and she ran off not even bothering to take her bag

 

‘Ali!’ Sarah called after her but Ali didn’t stop ‘Abby why did you say all that?! You knew she was already upset’ Sarah asked

 

‘I don’t know!’ Abby snapped ‘probably because I’m a dickhead’

 

‘Yeah you fucking are!’ Sarah yelled ‘this was not Ali’s fault she already feels bad enough’

 

‘You know what Sarah? Just shut up and go and show your pussy to some more French girls’ Abby said

 

‘Oh get over it Abby, none of them even know me and will never see me again other than briefly on the pitch if we play them’ Sarah replied

 

‘You still shouldn’t have done it!!! You’re my girlfriend and you’re acting like a total slag!’ Abby shouted before she could even stop herself.

 

‘Fuck you’ Sarah said quietly, grabbed her things and left

 

Abby went after her and tried to apologise, she grabbed Sarah’s arm ‘I’m sorry that was anger I didn’t mean that you’re a slag, I’ve never met a girl less of a slag than you’

 

‘Fuck off’ Sarah said aggressively showing a side to her that Abby had never seen before ‘I’m not even interested in your opinion of me right now, all that matters is finding Ashlyn. I’m going after Ali, don’t follow me’

 

Sarah had soon caught up with Ali. Ali was absolutely distraught and glad to have Sarah by her side. Neither of them had any idea of where Ashlyn would go. They borrowed Ali’s mom’s car and drove around well into the night trying to find Ashlyn. But to no avail, she seemed to have vanished. They both tried to call her several times a day and sent multiple messages but no reply ever came.

 

Three days passed and still no Ashlyn. Ali was beside herself. Ali and Sarah had made up with Abby.

 

‘This is really serious’ Ali told the others ‘do you think she is deliberately staying away or has something bad happened to her?’

 

‘I’m quite certain she is deliberately staying away’ Abby said to the other two ‘she loves the beach and she spent a huge amount of time there alone when we were younger, it wasn’t unheard of for her to disappear for days at a time, I really do think she has just driven to the coast and is spending some time by herself in seclusion’

 

‘Do you think she is reassessing her relationship with me?’ Ali asked

 

‘No’ Abby said confidently ‘one thing she is very sure about is you, but remember this has hurt her and it will be a million times worse because you caused it. She however will respect that you had to do it’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that I have put comment moderation on this story. I've started to get some really odd comments, please remember this is just a story and the angst is there to keep it interesting.


	54. Ashlyn Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pretty horrible chapter, if I do say so myself.

Ashlyn walked in a day later like nothing had even happened. She was very cold with Abby and clearly still angry.

 

‘Where the fuck have you been Ashlyn!! We’ve been frantic!’ Abby said to her

 

‘I needed some time to myself’ was all Ashlyn would say and nothing else. Abby had Sarah about to come over, she felt that perhaps all she could do was to try and normalise things.

 

‘Sarah’s coming over shortly, shall I invite Ali?’ Abby asked

 

‘If you want. I don’t care’ Ashlyn said

 

‘She’s your girlfriend Ashlyn, so you need to decide if you want her here’ Abby said

 

‘I don’t. I need some space’ Ashlyn replied

 

‘Ok then I’ll just let Sarah come over and she can see for herself that you’re back’ Abby said and Ashlyn just sat down and picked up the paper ignoring Abby.

 

Sarah arrived half an hour later ‘oh my god Ashlyn!!!’ Sarah squealed as soon as she saw Ashlyn in the room.

 

Abby was worried that with the mood Ashlyn was in she may be very cold or even unkind to Sarah but she needn’t have worried. Ashlyn stood up and wrapped her arms around Sarah, she even lifted her up and squeezed her tight. Abby felt something inside her twinge, seeing the affection between Ashlyn and Sarah. They were both clearly thrilled to see each other.

 

‘I was so worried about you, are you ok?’ Sarah asked

 

‘I’m getting there’ Ashlyn explained ‘it’s a lot for me to take in and is just taking some time’

 

‘Well don’t worry I think you’ll have me at home too during the Olympics, so we can keep each other company’ Sarah said

 

‘What do you mean?’ Ashlyn asked ‘I heard the coach call your name’

 

‘Well I sort of got in a lot of trouble over deliberately missing the goal’ Sarah explained staring at the floor looking embarrassed. No one at the club had officially spoken to Sarah about the situation yet.

 

‘I did wonder if you had missed it deliberately’ Ashlyn said shyly ‘you’re a really good friend Sarah but you shouldn’t have done that’

 

‘Well I just couldn’t do it, it wasn’t something I could control I guess it just isn’t my nature to do anything….’ Her voice trailed off as she tried to think of a word that wouldn’t incriminate Abby or Ali ‘well you know’ Sarah just said ending her sentence and then she said ‘hey maybe you will get my place now I’m probably not going’

 

‘I wouldn’t accept it’ Ashlyn said ‘I’ll speak to the coach when I’m back at the club and try to explain what happened, you shouldn’t lose your place’

 

 

‘Thanks’ Sarah grinned shyly and a bit awkwardly. She changed the subject ‘Abby is giving me swimming lessons’ Sarah explained to Ashlyn

 

‘Wow that’s a big step’ Ashlyn said and Sarah nodded

 

‘Do you have your bikini with you?’ Abby asked seeing a bag Sarah had brought with her

 

‘Yes it’s on under my clothes, the bag is just come clean clothes for me to put on afterwards’ Sarah said, she took off her shoes and socks and started to unzip her jeans

 

‘Go in the bedroom if you’re getting undressed’ Abby said

 

‘But I’ve got my bikini on under my clothes I don’t need to’ Sarah said

 

‘I still want you to go in the bedroom’ Abby said firmly glaring at Ashlyn

 

‘Why though? She’ll see me in my bikini anyway and she's seen it before’ Sarah asked

 

‘Oh don’t bother trying to explain to her Sarah I’ll go elsewhere’ Ashlyn said rolling her eyes

 

‘Why don’t you join us?’ Sarah said anxious to not cause a weird situation.

 

‘Well ok I think I will, I’ll go and get changed’ Ashlyn said heading off to her room

 

‘You are really weird sometimes Abby’ Sarah said to her but didn’t get a reply.

 

Five minutes later Ashlyn was in the pool. Sarah was perched on the side with Abby in front of her. It always took a while for Abby to coax her into the pool

 

‘Come on’ Abby said gently holding out her arms ‘I faithfully promise you that you will not go under the water or get any water in your eyes’

 

Ashlyn swam over at that point ‘I just don’t want to yet, Sarah said looking down and biting her nails

 

‘Aww don’t’ Ashlyn said taking Sarah’s hand away from her mouth ‘how about if we are both here to hold onto you?’

 

Sarah reluctantly nodded and allowed both Abby and Ashlyn to lift her into the pool. After a few minutes Ashlyn respected Abby enough to leave her with Sarah alone while she swam by herself. They all spent around an hour in the pool.

 

‘You hold onto her Ashlyn while I get out, then I can lift her out and she doesn’t have to worry about falling’ Abby said

 

‘Ok’ Ashlyn said and lifted Sarah up to Abby

 

‘You did so well today’ Abby said proudly hugging Sarah then unable to resist she gave her a super wedgie.

 

‘Uh Abby!’ Sarah exclaimed but Abby had run off into the house

 

‘I’m going for a hot shower!’ Abby called over her shoulder

 

Ashlyn had climbed out the pool by then as well and she couldn’t help laughing ‘wow she got you good and proper then Sarah’ she said seeing just how knotted up Sarah’s bikini had got.

 

‘She’s such a dick’ Sarah laughed ‘the drawstrings are all knotted, come here and help me’ Sarah said

 

Ashlyn started trying to unknot the strings on the side of Sarah’s bikini, Abby had pulled them really tight. Her knuckles accidentally grazed against Sarah’s pussy

 

Sarah jolted and involuntarily pushed Ashlyn away

 

‘Whoops sorry about that, I didn’t mean to do it’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Oh don’t worry, that was just a reflex I didn’t mean to slap your hand’ Sarah said trying again with the knots ‘oh fuck this’ Sarah suddenly said and before Ashlyn could offer any further help Sarah took her bikini bottoms off.

 

Ashlyn couldn’t help but look. She really didn’t mean to but it was right there in front of her ‘erm I’ll go into the house and get you a towel’ Ashlyn said starting to stand up ‘Abby could be out any minute and she’ll hit the roof if she sees you standing here like that with me here’

 

‘Oh don’t bother, it’s not like it’s cold, and anyway I’m sick of being constantly told “Sarah don’t do that in case Abby sees” it’s my body and my choice’ Sarah said stubbornly.

 

Ashlyn was very uncomfortable but she couldn’t help looking again. Sarah saw her look ‘it doesn’t usually look like that by the way’ she explained ‘I’m just so fucking horny at the moment that’s why my clit is swollen and showing slightly. It hasn’t seemed right having sex while you were missing and I’m basically gagging for it’

 

It was strange for Ashlyn hearing someone usually so gentle and sweet talking sexually ‘erm well don’t worry it looks good’ Ashlyn said grinning then wondered if that was inappropriate but Sarah grinned back ‘please let me help you with those strings, I get it that you’re feeling a bit controlled by Abby but I don’t want her to come out here right now’

 

Sarah handed the bikini over to Ashlyn and she had it unknotted in a few minutes and Sarah was soon back in her bikini again before Abby returned around 5 minutes later.

 

‘Are you gonna bath me now Abby?’ Sarah said suggestively grinning at Abby. Abby grinned back knowing exactly what Sarah was really asking for.

 

Ashlyn went back into the house a few minutes later she opened the refrigerator door to get a beer then noticed a bottle of vodka and decided to have that instead.

 

Abby came downstairs over an hour later by herself

 

‘Where’s Sarah’ Ashlyn slurred slightly but Abby didn’t notice

 

‘She's sleeping, the pool always tires her out’ Abby said coming over and then seeing the half empty bottle of vodka.

 

‘Oh my god that was a full bottle have you seriously downed all that Ashlyn?’ Abby asked

 

‘So what if I have?’ Ashlyn said aggressively immediately letting Abby know that she had.

 

‘Where the fuck have you been Ashlyn?’ Abby said getting back to the subject of earlier

 

‘Just away by myself’ Ashlyn said pouring another shot

 

‘That isn’t good enough. Me, Ali and Sarah have all been looking for you. I get it that you’re angry with me and Ali but you could have let us know you were ok or at least have acknowledged Sarah’

 

‘I didn’t want to acknowledge either you or Ali, I still don’t want to, and if I had contacted Sarah like I wanted to then she would have had to tell you two what I said’

 

‘At least we would have known you were safe!’ Abby yelled

 

‘Why would you and Ali care if it was safe or not. I’ve done a lot of thinking while I was away, and the way you behave on the pitch is disgusting and you’re rubbing off on Ali, she’s becoming just like you!’ Ashlyn yelled

 

Abby didn’t say anything so Ashlyn continued ‘I think about you Abby and the only question that comes into my head is what the fuck is a girl like Sarah doing with you?’

 

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Abby asked

 

‘Nothing’

 

‘Clearly you’ve given it a lot of thought to come out with a statement like that’ Abby argued

 

‘Well yeah actually I have. Sarah was so nice to me that it’s been impossible for me to not feel something over that. My own girlfriend and best friend ruined my dreams. I get it that you both had to do that but you didn’t need to celebrated it, I saw Ali jumping around like it was the best thing ever. If it had gone to penalties and I’d saved it I wouldn’t have celebrated it.

 

‘She celebrated for less than 10 seconds, the moment you looked away she stopped and I could see she was heart broken’ Abby explained

 

‘Well all I can think about is that the girl who knows me least out of the group of us couldn’t even score on me let alone celebrate it! Ashlyn yelled

 

Silence followed while Abby reflected.

 

‘Don’t you dare make a move for Sarah’ Abby eventually said warningly at Ashlyn

 

‘I’m not going to, I’m completely in love with Ali, but I’ll tell you this Abby, if there had been no Ali we’d both have wanted Sarah and I would have got her not you’ Ashlyn said maliciously

 

‘Would you fuck, she fancied me not you’ Abby told her

 

‘We’ve no idea what happened between them, we made it obvious which of them we preferred at the time but we don’t know that they didn’t both fancy me. Maybe Sarah just settled for you’

 

‘They may have both fancied me and Ali just settled for you’ Abby replied

 

‘I’m in a different league to you Abby I can have any girl I want. I bet if I came on to Sarah tonight if you weren’t here within an hour I could get her to kiss me’

 

‘How fucking dare you speak about Sarah as if she had loose morals and how dare you imply she’d choose you over me!!!’ Abby was so angry now. She couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. It worried her though. Ashlyn was a lot more sensitive than her, and the femmes loved thatt, and as much as Abby didn’t like to admit it Ashlyn was much better looking and had excellent fashion sense. Abby had never said it to Ashlyn before but she had never seen a butch more attractive than Ashlyn.

 

‘Ok I admit that morally Sarah would turn me down, but I bet she’d tell me that she wanted to do it. I don’t know what Sarah sees in you. She's so sweet and gentle and you’re just a total pig’ Ashlyn yelled

 

‘No I’m not. You don’t see my sensitive side, she gets all of that’

 

‘I can’t imagine you have a sensitive side. Why on earth a girl like Sarah thought you worthy of losing her virginity to I’ll never know.’

 

‘I bet I was a lot more gentle than you!’ Abby shouted back ‘I saw a message on Sarah’s phone from Ali where Ali said the day after having sex with you that she was a bit sore’

 

‘So, I know for a fact that Sarah was incredibly sore after you took her virginity’ yelled even louder

 

‘I don’t want you even thinking about my girlfriend’s virginity, that was a moment between me and her not you’ Abby screamed

 

‘Are you sure she was a virgin?’ Ashlyn said. She was so drunk now that she barely knew what was coming out of her mouth, her only intention was to hurt Abby.

 

‘Yes’ Abby said her eyes blazing at Ashlyn, wondering what she was going to say next

 

‘Did she bleed?’ Ashlyn asked remembering the great lengths Sarah had gone to that night to try and hide it from Abby

 

‘Not all girls do’ Abby said

 

‘Right’ Ashlyn said and gave an annoying smirk

 

‘What are you implying’ Abby said, she knew something awful was coming here. Had she been right all along about Sarah and Ashlyn?

 

‘Oh nothing at all’ Ashlyn said annoyingly ‘just you know, that maybe you didn’t get there first’

 

Abby didn’t say anything. Her lips were pursed in anger and she clenched her fists terrified of what Ashlyn was going to say next ‘you didn’t’ she said quietly almost not trusting herself to speak

 

‘I’m not saying I did but I can describe her pussy perfectly, you know…all tightly closed until she gets aroused and then…..’

 

‘You cunt’ Abby said quietly. Ashlyn had just described Sarah’s pussy perfectly. Abby felt that Ashlyn was saying she really had slept with Sarah. Abby suddenly turned and ran from the room. Ashlyn heard her running up the stairs which sobered her up slightly as she suddenly realised what she had done. Was Abby going to hurt Sarah because of a stupid wind up that had gone too far?


	55. Only 4 chances

 

Ashlyn dashed up the stairs after Abby, she ran into Abby’s bedroom unsure what she would find. She found Sarah fast asleep on the bed just wearing knickers and a vest top, with Abby’s shirt draped over her. Abby stood with her hand over her mouth crying just inside the door watching Sarah.

 

‘Not 10 minutes ago I lay her down to sleep in here, put my shirt over her as its too warm for covers but so she wouldn’t feel vulnerable, and thought to myself that she was the sweetest girl in the world. And now I look at her and I think is she the most evil? There’s nothing more evil Ashlyn than a wolf in sheep’s clothing’

 

Ashlyn didn’t know what to say, all she knew was that she now felt very sober.

 

‘Ashlyn I’m going to ask you one last time, are you sleeping with my girlfriend?’ Abby asked through tears.

 

‘No’ Ashlyn said instantly ‘No, and I never have and never would. I was just being an ass, because of how much you and Ali hurt me and I've drunk far too much’

 

Abby leaned her head back against the wall and sighed with relief. She walked over to the bed and sat next to Sarah, she wrapped her arms around the sleeping girl and sobbed on her.

 

Ashlyn watched them ‘her bikini came undone accidentally earlier after you wedgied her, I only got a glimpse’ Ashlyn said stretching the truth.

 

Abby nodded, no longer caring that Ashlyn had seen Sarah naked she was too relieved to know they hadn’t slept together ‘I love her so much’ Abby said kissing Sarah again and resting against her.

 

Sarah woke up ‘hey’ she said not opening her eyes and reaching for Abby, her hands cupping Abby’s face. She thought she felt something wet and opened her eyes in surprise ‘oh my god Abby are you crying?’ Sarah asked horrified

 

Abby nodded and started crying again burying her face in Sarah.

 

Ashlyn continued to watch Abby and Sarah for a minute, it was so sweet watching Sarah comfort Abby. Ashlyn could see straight away that Sarah was all for Abby there was no possible moment in which Sarah would have chosen her over Abby, she hoped Abby would realise that now. Watching Abby and Sarah had made her miss Ali. Ashlyn left the room, she was glad to feel that feeling as she hadn’t felt it while she had been away. She loved Ali more than anything and never doubted their relationship but she had needed some space. That space was done now. Ashlyn wanted to see Ali.

 

The next day Ashlyn made contact with Ali and asked her to come over.

 

Abby had some work with a sponsor and was out of the house, leaving Ashlyn alone with Sarah. They were talking together, the window was open and unknown to them Ali had arrived and as much as she didn’t want to, she found herself eaves dropping on the conversation.

 

‘Fuck I feel horrendous’ Ashlyn said to Sarah as she came downstairs

 

‘Why what’s up?’ Sarah asked

 

‘I drank way too much last night, I hit the vodka hard’ Ashlyn aid

 

‘That’s not like you’ Sarah said quietly ‘Ash why was Abby crying last night? I asked her and she told me she just felt ill. She’d been absolutely fine all evening so that seems odd to me’

 

‘It was my fault’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Go on’ Sarah said

 

‘I implied to her that we were sleeping together after all to hurt her back’ Ashlyn said

 

‘Oh fuck did you?’ Sarah exclaimed

 

‘Yes I really did’ Ashlyn said holding her head in her hands ‘stupid I know, but I put it right even before she woke you up’

 

Ashlyn continued to explain the situation to Sarah while Ali listened, however she felt fully assured now that nothing had or ever would go on between Ashlyn and Sarah. Ashlyn just cared about Sarah because she was femme and sweet and always kind to her.

 

Ali summoned all her strength and knocked on the door. Sarah quickly said hello to Ali then made her way upstairs leaving them alone.

 

‘Hi’ Ashlyn eventually said

 

‘Hi’ Ali replied followed by ‘this is awkward’

 

‘I know’ Ashlyn whispered ‘I was just hurt Ali and needed some time to myself. It is a huge thing to not be going to the Olympics. It is 2 weeks every 4 years, the very very lucky people get 4 chances. It is nearly impossible to be healthy for those 2 weeks as everyone is so competitive and out to break your leg if they can and put you out for months. Then to not even be chosen when you're at 100% health and on the form of your life is absolute fucking hell’

 

‘I know I get it, I know that I'm much earlier in my career than you but I still fully understand it, and how you feel I’ll get 4 chances but just like you I might not’

 

Ashlyn nodded ‘I don’t have anything else to say or any other explanation Ali, are we cool?’

 

‘Yes’ Ali said and finally a smile appeared. Ashlyn grabbed hold of Ali and held onto her so tightly.

 

This Olympics thing was going to be her worst nightmare, but at least things with Ali were smoothed over.

 

Important note to readers:

Sorry to put the notes here but this way I know that it will be read. I'm sorry to say that this is as far as I have got with this fic and have run out of inspiration and drive with it. It feels expired with Sarah and Abby no longer being together, and I seem to have writer's block. Thank you very very much for reading. I hope to give you a closing chapter shortly, the fic is titled "here comes the one" implying obviously that these 2 couples are destined, so it will be a good ending! I plan to continue writing unique chapters, if you haven't read my existing ones then please do.

 


	56. A Year Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. We fast forward a year here.

A year later

 

Abby and Ashlyn were sat outside their house on the bench swing. They had both been silent for a few minutes.

 

‘Ash, I’m thinking about asking Sarah to move in with me’ Abby suddenly said

 

‘Wow’ Ashlyn replied. She also felt ready for this next step with Ali but at the same time worried that Sarah moving in would mean that Abby wanted her to move out.

 

‘What do you think?’ Abby asked

 

‘Well it’s a big step but I think it’s the right time. Do you think she’s ready to leave her mom?’ Ashlyn asked

 

‘I’m a bit dubious but I think she will. Do you feel ready to take a similar step with Ali?’ Abby asked

 

‘Yes I think so’ Ashlyn said ‘but it isn’t my house to ask anyone to move into’

 

‘I’m kind of thinking we should both ask our girls to move in’ Abby said

 

‘You mean you don’t want me to move out?’ Ashlyn said her eyes lighting up

 

‘Fuck no!’ Abby replied ‘I’d really like the 4 of us to live together for a while, you know until one of us sets a date. Obviously once one or both of us are married it would be a bit odd living together but as 2 engaged couples I think we’d have a blast’

 

‘Wow’ Ashlyn said again ‘I’d really like that, I did want to ask Ali. In fact I’d kinda like to ask her to marry me, but keep that between us’

 

‘I will do’ Abby replied ‘Sarah loves the Christmas to New year time so I’ve decided I won’t ask her until then but Ali loves summer so I think asking her now would be perfect. Ash I know you’re saving money to try and get a deposit for a house but Ali’s family are loaded you don’t need to save why don’t you put that money towards “something Else?”’ Abby asked and Ashlyn realised she was talking about a ring.

 

A few weeks later Ashlyn had taken Ali back to the bar where they had had their first date and now she had taken her to the beach where they’d had that first walk and discovered their feelings for each other. They were sat down very close to each other, Ali was sat on Ashlyn’s jacket to protect her dress and had Ashlyn’s arm very firmly around her.

 

Ali was holding Ashyn’s hand that was draped around her she kissed the hand ‘fuck I love you so much’ Ali whispered

 

‘Trust me it can’t be anything close to how much I love you’ Ashlyn whispered into Ali’s ear kissing it as she pulled away. Ali leaned her head on Ashlyn’s shoulder and they watched the sun set in silence. The people started to disperse and soon it was just them and a few others no where near left on the beach. Everyone wanting privacy.

 ‘I mean it, I love you more than I ever believed I could love someone’ Ashlyn whispered.

‘I feel so privileged that my first relationship is like this’ Ali replied ‘most people don’t get this, I can’t see myself ever being with anyone else’

 

‘I don’t want you to be’ Ashlyn replied sincerely. She’d been carrying the ring around for 3 weeks now waiting for the right moment, she felt that it might be tonight. It was exactly 2 years since their first date. She wasn’t sure if Ali realised that.

 

‘It was 2 years ago tonight that you took me here the first time wasn’t it?’ Ali suddenly said much to Ashlyn’s pleasure

 

‘Yes’ Ashlyn grinned

 

‘Did you think we’d get to this?’ Ali asked

 

‘Yes’ Ashlyn said again ‘did you?’

 

‘Well it was all very new to me but yes I did too’ Ali replied

 

Ashlyn slowly stood which surprised Ali, she didn’t want to leave yet. She didn’t want Ashlyn to now take her home tonight, in fact she didn’t want Ashlyn to take her home any night anymore. Ashlyn held out her hands and Ali reluctantly grabbed them to be pulled up. Ashlyn kissed Ali passionately making no movement to lead them back to the car. Suddenly under the moonlight she went down on one knee.

 

At first Ali thought she was tying her shoe then suddenly she gasped inwards and put her hand to her mouth as she realised what was happening.

 

‘Ali I’ve known since the second I lay eyes on you that it would only ever be you’ Ashlyn said gripping Ali’s hand tightly with one hand as she reached into her pocket. She brought out the case and flipped it open revealing a beautiful diamond. Ashlyn had listened to Abby and taken the risk, all the savings had gone into the ring. It was the biggest risk Ashlyn had ever taken but Ali was worth it.

 

‘Ali will you marry me?’ Ashlyn said stumbling out the words then shyly raising her eyes to Ali’s.

 

Ali saw the fear in her eyes, and the sparkle in the ring. She knew Ashlyn had put everything materialistic into the ring and all of her soul into the proposal. She felt tears prick her eyes as she nodded.

 

‘Yes, yes of course I will’ and the tears spilled out.

 

Ashlyn jumped to her feet and pulled Ali into the biggest hug she had ever given anyone, tears falling from her own eyes.

 

Ashlyn finally composed herself ‘I was so scared you’d say no! I knew you loved me but I just wasn’t sure how much, now I know’

 

‘Me too!’ Ali confirmed still crying ‘I knew you loved me but I was just never sure how much but know I know too this is forever’

 

‘Yes forever’ Ashlyn promised ‘I knew it from the start, exactly 2 years ago tonight I sent Abby a text that said “Here comes the one” about you and I was right, you are my one’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I plan to leave this story here, but if further inspiration came then I won't rule out adding another chapter that could either be a flashback or a fastfoward.   
> I am also deliberating writing a "dark chapter" as a unique chapter (not part of this happy ending) as I have some ideas on the subject of What If Abby Was Right All Along. Let me know if you would want that - all comments will be private and only read by me.


End file.
